Ambiguous Insurance Policy Blocks Insurer’s Summary Judgment Motion

I really like this Eastern District of Pennsylvania case, Ionata v. Allstate Insurance Company, Civil Action No. 15-6561, because I think it illustrates really nicely the contractual ambiguity at issue and the consequences of that ambiguity. I might use it as an example in class. 

Ionata and her then-husband bought the property at issue together and it was insured with a standard Allstate Homeowner’s Policy, which Ionata kept current through the relevant time period. In 2011, Ionata and her husband divorced. Ionata continued to use the house as her mailing address and also continued to keep her stuff there but seems to have slept on a nightly basis somewhere else. In 2014, Ionata had allowed a close family friend to live in the house. During this time period, the house was destroyed by a fire. 

The policy covered a “Dwelling,” defined as a building “where you reside.”Allstate argued that residence required “physical occupation” of the house by the policyholder. Therefore, it argued, the house was no longer covered by the homeowner’s policy because Ionata was no longer “residing” in it. 

The court noted that Allstate’s argument made perfect sense in isolation, but it was inconsistent with other clauses within the policy. So, for instance, the policy contained a clause that permitted the house to “be vacant or unoccupied.” As the court succinctly put it, “Logically, it is difficult to reconcile Allstate’s position that the policyholder must be living on the premises with a clause that provides the Property may be vacant or unoccupied for any length of time.” 

Nor was this the only clause that raised the ambiguity. There was another clause that explicitly permitted the occasional renting of the entire property for residential purposes. If a policyholder was allowed to rent the entire property to others, then the policyholder couldn’t simultaneously be required to live in the property herself. 

The court therefore denied Allstate’s motion for summary judgment, calling out “the artificial and often arcane structure and language of insurance policies” in making the decision.