Opinion ID: 524326
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: is the insurance policy ambiguous?

Text: 8 The policy's Declaration Page indicates a limit of liability of $500,000 for Each Claim and $1,000,000 Aggregate. The Coverage section has the following paragraph: 9 Claim, whenever used in this policy, means a demand received by the insured for money or services including the service of suit or institution of arbitration proceedings against the insured. 10 The Limits of Liability section contains this paragraph:IV. Multiple Insureds, Claims and Claimants: The inclusion herein of more than one insured or the making of claims or the bringing of suits by more than one person or organization shall not operate to increase the Company's limit of liability. Two or more claims arising out of a single act, error, omission or personal injury or a series of related acts, errors, omissions or personal injuries shall be treated as a single claim. All such claims, whenever made, shall be considered first made during the policy period or Optional Extension period in which the earliest claim arising out of such act, error, omission or personal injury, was first made, and all such claims shall be subject to the same limits of liability. 11 (Emphasis added.) 12 According to Indiana law, 13 [a]mbiguity in an insurance contract exists when [the contract] is susceptible to more than one interpretation and reasonably intelligent [persons] would honestly differ as to its meaning. An ambiguity does not exist simply because a controversy exists between the parties, each favoring an interpretation contrary to the other's. If the court does not find ambiguity in the language of the contract, it will be given its plain and ordinary meaning. 14 Anderson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 471 N.E.2d 1170, 1172 (Ind.App. 3 Dist.1984) (citations omitted). Mr. Gregory asserts, in substance, that the two paragraphs from the policy quoted above create a glaring ambiguity because the word claim is defined in the policy as a demand received by the insured for money or services, yet for purposes of determining the each claim policy limit, the word claim can mean several claims. We find no merit in this argument. Mr. Gregory's assertion that Paragraph IV, quoted above, redefines the term claim so as to conflict with the first quoted paragraph's definition, is not a reasonable interpretation of the policy. Paragraph IV deals with two subjects: the limit of liability for certain described groups of claims, and how to determine when such groups of claims are considered first made under the policy. For the purpose of applying policy limits, Paragraph IV determines that a group of claims, as defined, shall be treated as a single claim. We find clarity rather than ambiguity. 15 We find no ambiguity, either, in the policy's use of the word aggregate. The policy does not define aggregate, but states in the Limits of Liability section that the liability of the Company shall not exceed the amount stated in the Declarations as Aggregate as a result of all claims first made against the insured.... (Emphasis omitted.) This sentence simply limits Home Insurance's liability as a result of all claims made during the policy period. 3 16