Prevention costs held not to constitute property damage

Insurance Matters

By Don R. Sampen

Don R. Sampen is a member of the appellate practice group of Clausen, Miller P.C., where he focuses on appellate, commercial and insurance-related litigation. He also teaches insurance law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. His column appears twice monthly.

Posted April 4, 2023 11:16 AM

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently held that a steel subcontractor’s defective work, causing the general contractor to incur added costs for investigating, designing and implementing repairs, constituted only “economic damages” for which the subcontractor’s insurance policies provided no coverage. The case is St. Paul Guardian Insurance Co. v. Walsh Construction Co., No. 15 C 10324, 2023 U.S. Dist. Lexis 36690 (March 6). The insurers, St. Paul Guardian Insurance Co., Travelers Property …

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