Warzecha v. USAA Casualty Ins. Co.

Citations

• 206 Conn. App. 188

Syllabus

The plaintiff, K, a homeowner, was insured under a homeowners insurance policy issued by the defendant insurance company. K was named as a defendant in a separate action, in which it was alleged that K had stalked and harassed a family, and the claims against K included, inter alia, negligent infliction of emotional distress. K made a claim for coverage relating to the separate action under the insurance policy, which the defendant denied. Thereafter, K brought the present action against the defendant claiming that the defendant had a duty to provide K with a legal defense in the separate action and to indemnify. The trial court determined that the count alleging negligent infliction of emotional dis- tress against K in the separate action did not allege that a bodily injury had occurred and that, pursuant to the terms of the insurance policy, bodily injury did not include claims for purely mental injury. The trial court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, K claimed that, in the separate action, the plaintiff's allegation that her emotional distress was so severe that it could cause physical illness was sufficient for the trial court to conclude that a bodily injury was alleged to have been sustained and, therefore, K was entitled to coverage pursuant to the terms of his policy. Held that the trial court did not err in rendering summary judgment for the defendant: the complaint against K did not allege actual physical illness or injury but was required to allege that K's actions could have resulted in such in order to comply with the pleading requirements for a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress, and, as the insurance policy explicitly excluded purely mental injuries, this court was bound by that plain language and could not read the policy differently to account for public policy considerations, thus, pursuant to the terms of his insurance policy, K was not entitled to coverage, and, accordingly, the defendant had neith