Court Opinion

ID: 9521828
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:12:53.695123+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:52:18.332932
License: Public Domain

STATON, Judge,
concurring.
I concur with the majority opinion, however, I feel that the definition of “actual cash value” needs additional clarification. The majority predicates its definitional rationale upon the indemnity aspect of the insurance policy. It assumes that indemnity necessarily includes a functional restoration of the whole. This definition of “actual cash value” ignores the practical result that a restored interior of a house may have to be accomplished with new materials rather than used materials which may increase the market value of the house. Since the policy did not define “actual cash value” and since an ambiguity existed, the ambiguity was construed against the insurer. Furthermore, depreciation of some structural parts of the interior of a house is unrealistic and at best arbitrary. For example, a handrail to a stairway, a stairway, doors, thresholds, windows, floors, walls, etc. Therefore, indemnity must include functional restoration of the whole within policy limits.