Cases

In an interesting “matching concept” case in a standard fire insurance policy state, The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that the Insurer won’t have to pay for the replacement of an entire roof after shingles installed to replace hail-damaged ones did not match the original, reversing an initial finding that a couple’s insurance policy covered the matching issue.

The Court also rejected the argument that the policy should be reformed to cover all the losses the insured sustained because the policy must provide the statutory minimum coverage of a standard fire insurance policy.  The statute setting forth the standard fire insurance policy provides that policies insuring against fire and other perils “shall, with respect to the peril of fire, afford the insured all the rights and benefits of the Minnesota standard fire insurance policy.”

This Court ruled: “Because fire did not cause the loss, the requirements of the standard fire insurance policy are simply inapplicable.”