Court Opinion

ID: 9705441
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:06:24.446149+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:11.420220
License: Public Domain

FLAHERTY, Justice,
dissenting.
In its understandable quest to provide insurance coverage to the insured homeowner, the majority purports to find an ambiguity in the contract language in order to resolve the ambiguity in favor of the insured. In my estimation, however, the policy exclusion does not contain any ambiguity which justifies “interpretation”; rather, the clear language of the policy excludes coverage for damage caused by a landslide. The loss claimed by appellants is thus excluded.
It is basic that no interpretation of contractual language is necessary or permissible unless there is ambiguity which must be resolved. Steuart v. McChesney, 498 Pa. 45, 444 A.2d 659 (1982). Words and phrases shall be construed according to rules of grammar and according to their common and approved usage. “It is often stated in judicial opinions that where the language used in a statute is clear and unambiguous there is no need for interpretation or construction. The same rule applies to the construction of contracts.” Spigelmire v. North Braddock School Disk, 352 Pa. 504, 510-11, 43 A.2d 229, 232 (1945).
[W]hen the words are clear and unambiguous the intent is to be discovered only from the express language of the agreement. As this Court stated in East Crossroads Center, Inc. v. Mellon-Stuart Co., 416 Pa. [229] at 230-231, 205 A.2d [865] at 866 [1965], “[w]hen a written *195contract is clear and unequivocal, its meaning must be determined by its contents alone. It speaks for itself and a meaning cannot be given to it other than that expressed. Where the intention of the parties is clear, there is no need to resort to extrinsic aids or evidence.” Hence, where language is clear and unambiguous, the focus of interpretation is upon the terms of the agreement as manifestly expressed, rather than as, perhaps, silently intended.
Steuart v. McChesney, 498 Pa. at 49, 444 A.2d at 661 (citations omitted, emphasis in original).
Appellants’ complaint set forth the earth movement exclusion as follows: “2. Earth Movement, meaning subsidence, earthquake or volcanic eruption.” Appellants accepted the fact, set forth in the insurer’s new matter, that the above contractual definition had been deleted and the following definition substituted: “2. Earth Movement. Meaning any loss caused by, resulting from, contributed to or aggravated by earthquake; landslide; mudflow; earth sinking, rising or shifting; volcanic eruption meaning the eruption, explosion or effusion of a volcano; ...”
If it might have been argued under the original definition that “subsidence, earthquake or volcanic eruption” implied only natural disasters, the argument is considerably weaker under the amended definition, wherein five types of earth movement are specified, three of which commonly include man-made calamities: landslides, mudflows, and earth sinking, rising, or shifting. There is simply no basis, under the ordinary meaning of the words used in the latter definition, to argue that the exclusion applies only to natural earth movement but not to man-made earth movement.
Moreover, the same insurance policy amendment which clarified the definition of “earth movement” added the following exclusion, immediately following the foregoing amendment:
The following exclusion is added:
*1968. Planning, Construction or Maintenance, meaning faulty, inadequate or defective:
a. planning, zoning, development;
b. design, development of specifications, workmanship, construction;
c. materials used in construction; or
d. maintenance;
of property whether on or off the insured location by any person or organization. However, this exclusion only applies if a peril otherwise excluded by this policy substantially contributes to the loss.
I do not see how the policy could more clearly exclude the type of loss claimed by appellants.
The majority’s reliance on the rule of ejusdem generis is puzzling, as no application is apparent, and no reference is provided to explain its purported applicability to this contract.
Appellants’ arguments bypass the required first analytical step of showing an ambiguity in the policy exclusion. This was clearly recognized by the trial court and the Superior Court. Without any ambiguity, there is no need or justification to construe the contractual language in favor of the insured and against the insurer.
I would affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
NIX, C.J., joins this dissenting opinion.