Lightning Rod Mut. Ins. Co. v. Southworth, 151 Ohio St.3d 70, 2017-Ohio-7438

CGL policy does not cover damage that began before the policy’s inception.

After full briefing and oral argument, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, letting stand the Fourth Appellate District’s decision found at 2016-Ohio-3473. In that case, the Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the insurer, finding that an occurrence-based CGL policy did not cover claims against the insured, which were first discovered some ten months prior to the inception of the policy. The underlying claimant had appealed, and the Supreme Court accepted the appeal. After full briefing and oral argument, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as “improvidently allowed.” Justice O’Donnell wrote an eight-page dissent, arguing that the appeal should have been decided on the merits. The dismissal of the appeal as “improvidently allowed” is not an affirmation of the Court of Appeals decision, but the Court of Appeals decision remains the law in the Fourth Appellate District and is persuasive authority elsewhere in Ohio.

 

Case Law Alerts, 2nd Quarter, April 2018

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