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By John Ashcroft Institute for Constitutional Studies

Missouri court of appeals western district reverses summary judgment and allows homeowners to sue Shelter Insurance Company for a greater replacement cost to rebuild their home. Douglas Dibben and Deborah Dibben, Appellants, v. Shelter Insurance Company, Respondent: WD68269
"Douglas and Deborah Dibben appeal the circuit court's summary judgment for Shelter Insurance Company in the Dibbens' lawsuit for breach of contract. The Dibbens sued Shelter for breaching its homeowners' insurance policy issued during 2000. The Dibbens argued that when fire destroyed their house during June 2001, Shelter wrongfully insisted on paying only $164,100, the amount of insurance set out on the policy's declaration page, instead of paying $205,000, the claimed amount of the house's replacement cost. The Dibbens sued for $40,900, the difference between the house's claimed replacement cost and the amount that Shelter paid. Shelter moved for partial summary judgment, which the circuit court granted.

REVERSED.

Division holds: The insurance contract did not define "amount of insurance" or "limit of liability." The failure to define these terms renders section 2 and section 4 of the policy inherently inconsistent. Construing the insurance contract against Shelter, we hold that, under section 2, the Dibbens were entitled to full replacement cost and section 4 (i) limited Shelter's obligation to the amount calculated in section 2 and not to the limits on the declaration page. The circuit court, therefore, erred in entering summary judgment for Shelter. We reverse the circuit court's judgment and remand for it to enter judgment for the Dibbens.

Full post as published by Showmeblawgs on May 11, 2008 (boomark / email).

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