McCullough v. Guarantee Company of North Amercia
The policy's liability coverage cannot be extended to a claim where the third party acquired the property after the alleged negligent misrepresentation; because Geen had no interest in the property at the time of the occurrence, the claim falls outside coverage.
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- C28849
- Parties
- Appellant: Arthur McCullough; Appellant: Charmain McCullough; Respondent: The Guarantee Company of North America
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 22 February 1999
- Procedural Posture
- Collection / Appeal
- Outcome
- Appeal dismissed with costs.
- Legal Topics
- Negligent Misrepresentation, Insurance Policy Interpretation, Property Damage, Third Party Interest, Liability Coverage
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Arthur McCullough
Appellant
Charmain McCullough
Appellant
The Guarantee Company of North America
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Collection / Appeal
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the insurer's liability coverage extends to negligent misrepresentation that leads a third party to acquire property after the alleged misrepresentation
- 2 Whether property damage for insurance coverage requires the third party to have an interest in the property at the time of the occurrence
Ratio Decidendi
The policy's liability coverage cannot be extended to a claim where the third party acquired the property after the alleged negligent misrepresentation; because Geen had no interest in the property at the time of the occurrence, the claim falls outside coverage.
Court Disposition
Appeal dismissed with costs.
Orders
- Appeal dismissed with costs.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
McCullough v. Guarantee Company of North Amercia Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 1999-02-22 Docket numbers C28849 Judges Osborne, Coulter Arthur Anthony; Goudge, Stephen Thomas; Borins, Stephen Subject Civil Decision Content DATE: 19990222 DOCKET: C28849 COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO RE: ARTHUR McCULLOUGH and CHARMAIN McCULLOUGH (Applicants/Appellants) v. THE GUARANTEE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA (Respondent/Respondent in Appeal) BEFORE: OSBORNE, GOUDGE and BORINS JJ.A. COUNSEL: Philip Spencer, Q.C. and Marcus B. Snowden, for the appellant Edward A. Ayers, Q.C., for the respondent HEARD: February 15, 1999 ENDORSEMENT [1] In our opinion the motions judge was correct in finding that the terms of the policy cannot be stretched to cover the Geen allegations as set out in her statement of claim. [2] The thrust of the liability coverage that is relevant in this case is the protection of the insureds, the appellants, against liability for actions which inflict damage to the property of a third party. We do not think this coverage can be expanded to reach these circumstances where, at the time of the occurrence (the appellants' alleged negligent misrepresentation), the third party, Geen, had no interest in the property said to be damaged but rather acquired that property thereafter. [3] At best, the Geen claim is for compensation for the insureds' action which caused Ms. Geen to acquire property which was other than it was represented to be. In our view, this is not within the liability coverage of this policy. [4] The appeal must be dismissed with costs.