State ex rel. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hon. Ronald E. Wilson (Signed Opinion)
Annotate this CaseThe underlying lawsuit arose out of Fred Hlad’s agreement to construct a house for Travis and Teresa Nelson. The Nelsons sued Hlad for breach of contract, various intentional tort claims, and negligence in constructing their house. Hlad had a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company at all times relevant to this case. Nationwide provided Hlad a defense in the underlying lawsuit under a reservation of rights. Nationwide also intervened in the lawsuit and filed a complaint for declaratory relief to determine whether it had a duty to defend or indemnify Hlad. The circuit court denied Nationwide’s request for declaratory relief, finding that the CGL policy provided coverage to Hlad for any damages that may be recovered in the underlying lawsuit. Nationwide then petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of prohibition. The Supreme Court granted Nationwide’s requested writ, holding (1) most of the claims asserted by the Nelsons did not trigger coverage under the CGL policy, and the claims that did trigger coverage were precluded by clear and unambiguous exclusions; and (2) therefore, Nationwide had no duty to provide coverage, defend, or indemnify Hlad in the underlying lawsuit.
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