Plaintiff filed a complaint for declaratory relief seeking an order that the defendant, an insurance company, had a duty to defend and indemnify the plaintiff to the extent plaintiff was found liable in an underlying matter involving a carbon monoxide leak at a middle school. The trial court dismissed one count of plaintiff’s six-count complaint and entered summary judgment in favor of the defendant on the remaining counts. Plaintiff appealed and argued that the trial court erred by failing to determine whether each act alleged in the underlying lawsuit fell outside of the applicable policy’s professional services exclusion and when the trial court found that the underlying lawsuit arose solely out of the plaintiff’s activity of conducting and preparing a health/life safety survey. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate that the trial court erred in finding the allegations of the underlying lawsuits fell under the professional services exclusion of the insurance policies. (STEIGMANN and KNECHT, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Insurance Coverage