Turner v. U.S. Fidelity and Guar. Co.

• Court: Supreme Court of Alabama
• Citation: 440 So.2d 1026
• Decision Date: 28 October 1983
• Parties: A.D. TURNER, individually and Turner Welding & Repair Company, Inc. v. UNITED STATES FIDELITY AND GUARANTY COMPANY, a corporation. 82-112.

Page 1026

440 So.2d 1026

A.D. TURNER, individually and Turner Welding & Repair Company, Inc. v. UNITED STATES FIDELITY AND GUARANTY COMPANY, a corporation.

82-112.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Oct. 28, 1983.

Thomas B. Huie and Frank E. Lankford, Jr. of Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart, Birmingham, for appellants.

L. Graves Stiff, III of Starnes & Atchison, Birmingham, for appellee.

ALMON, Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment upholding the validity of a completed operations hazard exclusion contained in a standard general liability policy.

Effective October 1, 1976, to the present, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. (USF & G) issued a general liability insurance policy to A.D. Turner, individually, and Turner Welding & Repair Company, Inc. (Turner Welding). The policy provided the following coverage:

"The Company will pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of

A. bodily injury or

B. property damage

to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence, and the Company shall have the right and duty to defend any suit against the Insured seeking damages on account of such bodily injury or property damage ...."

(emphasis in original)

Because Turner elected not to purchase coverage for the completed operations hazard, the policy contained a standard endorsement which excluded coverage for

"bodily injury and property damage arising out of operations or reliance upon a representation or warranty made at any time with respect thereto, but only if the bodily injury or property damage occurs after such operations have been completed or abandoned and occurs away from premises owned or rented to the Named Insured. "Operations" include materials, parts or equipment furnished in connection therewith."

(emphasis in original)

While covered by this policy, Turner Welding contracted with the Dixie Bronze Company to remove existing crane runways on a building and install two overhead cranes and fabricated runways in their place. It is undisputed that Turner Welding completed this job by December 1, 1980.

On December 2, 1980, two employees of Irondale Fabricators were injured when a portion of the Dixie Bronze building or roof collapsed. They filed separate lawsuits against several contractors, and Turner Welding was later added as a party defendant based upon the allegation that Turner Welding negligently constructed, maintained, designed, or erected that portion of the building on which the employee was working at the time of the accident.

USF & G then brought a declaratory judgment action in Jefferson Circuit Court, alleging that because of the completed operations hazard exclusion in the subject policy, it had no duty to defend either Turner or Turner Welding nor to pay any judgment or settlement arising out of the two personal injury suits in which the insured Turner Welding had been added as a defendant.

Turner and Turner Welding filed an answer which alleged that conflicting clauses and/or ambiguities in the policy entitled them to coverage, defense, and indemnification in the personal injury suits brought against Turner Welding.

Both sides filed motions for summary judgment based upon the pleadings and the deposition of Turner. Counsel for both sides represented to the circuit court that no facts were in dispute, and the court granted summary judgment in favor of USF & G. Turner and Turner Welding then filed a notice of appeal to this Court.

Because Turner and Turner Welding stipulated that the occurrences which form the basis of the two personal injury suits fall squarely within the completed operations hazard exclusion, the sole issue presented for review is whether as a matter of law this exclusion is valid and enforceable when read in tandem with exclusion (a) ¹ of the subject policy.

Exclusion (a), which denies coverage for contractual liability assumed by the insured, provides in pertinent part that

"this exclusion does not apply to a warranty of fitness or quality of the Named Insured's products or a warranty that work performed by or on behalf of the Named Insured will be done in a workmanlike manner ...."

(emphasis in original)

Appellants contend that because this language allegedly implies coverage which is inconsistent with the completed operations hazard exclusion, we should construe the policy in a manner which will resolve all ambiguities in favor of broad coverage.

In Alabama, insurers have the right, absent statutory provisions to the contrary, to limit their liability and write policies with narrow coverage. Aetna Ins. Co. v. Pete Wilson Roofing & Heating Co., 289 Ala. 719, 272 So.2d 232 (1972). Thus, although the presence of an ambiguity in an insurance contract requires construction of the policy in a manner most favorable to the insured, Employers Ins. Co. of Alabama v. Jeff Gin Co., 378...