By Lyle Adriano
An Illinois court has ruled that earth movement exclusions include mine subsidence, or movement caused by mining.
In Hutchinson v. Pacific Indem. Co., 2015 WL 5139183, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112239 (E.D.Mo., Sep. 1, 2015), the issue of whether a mine subsidence can be legally considered an earth movement exclusion in respect to home insurance coverage was decided. The Court, after careful review, ruled that the definition of an earth movement exclusion was clear-cut, and includes mine-related ground movement.
The plaintiffs of the case lost their home to a “mine subsidence event” and their policy carrier, in turn, reimbursed the plaintiffs $750,000 as stipulated by the Illinois Mine Subsidence Act. Notably, the plaintiffs’ policy excludes coverage for “any loss caused by earth movement, including volcanic eruptions, landslides, mud flows, and the sinking, rising, or shifting of land.”
The policyholders, however, pursued the overall limit of liability to the tune of more than $3M. The carrier hesitated at this demand, and the plaintiffs brought suit not long after.
Missouri District Judge Ronnie White ruled in favor of the carrier and granted motion for summary judgment on September 1. “The Court finds that the unambiguous language in the Policy provides that Plaintiffs’ claim for mine subsidence fits within the earth movement exclusion,” he remarks.
“The Court, as any reasonable reader would, interprets earth movement under its plain and ordinary dictionary meanings to include mine subsidence,” the judge wrote in his decision.
