Opinion ID: 1517147
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Need for Reformation

Text: The insurance company contends that the Superior Court erred in deciding that the company had a duty to defend the town without first ruling on whether the insurance policy should be reformed. In the insurer's view, a court may not construe an insurance contract without considering all the applicable provisions of the policy. Although the company recites a correct rule of law, it appears to misinterpret the Superior Court's action. Although it is true that an insurance policy must be construed in its entirety, see Benedix v. Boston Old Colony Ins. Co., Me., 417 A.2d 453 (1980), in the present case the Superior Court was scrutinizing the coverage provisions of the policy only for the purpose of determining whether the company had a duty to defend the town in Mrs. Berry's wrongful death action. Whether the insurer had such a duty depended merely on whether Mrs. Berry's complaint alleged facts that might possibly bring her claim within the policy coverage. American Policyholders' Ins. Co. v. Cumberland Cold Storage, Me., 373 A.2d 247 (1977). The presiding justice's only task was to interpret and apply the language excepting from the streets-and-roads exclusion injury arising out of and occurring during the performance of street cleaning and repair operations. This language of exception was in both the basic policy and the endorsement. Every relevant portion of the insurance policy was before the Superior Court when it determined that the insurance company was obliged to defend the Town of Topsham. The presiding justice scrutinized not only the basic insurance contract but also the additional exclusion endorsement that the insurer alleges was omitted by mistake. Having found that the company would have a duty of defense whether or not the policy were reformed to include the additional exclusion endorsement, the justice properly declined to decide whether reformation should be granted. [2]