The damage to the house of a farmer caused by the blasting operation should be included in the scope of all insurance compensation for construction projects - insurance contract dispute between a bridge company and an insurance company
Case details:
On January 11, 2015, a highway bridge company won the bid to build the A4 section of the expressway project. On March 30, 2015, the highway bridge company insured the insurance company of all construction projects for the project, of which the cumulative liability limit of third-party liability is RMB 10,000,000, and the deductible amount of property losses per accident of third-party liability is RMB 5,000. The insurance period is from March 31, 2015 to August 28, 2016. On April 3 of the same year, the highway bridge company and the blasting company in Jiangxi signed a "Blasting Service Agreement". According to the "Blasting Technology and Construction Plan Design of Blasting Project of the A4 Section of the Expressway issued by the company, blasters with a blasting operation license will carry out blasting construction. Starting from May 2015, blasting construction has successively cracked the walls and floors of farmers in many villages, causing property losses, and causing local farmers to petition and block work and protect their rights. The highway and bridge company reported insurance to the insurance many times, but the insurance company refused to pay the compensation on the grounds that the accident did not belong to insurance liability. Because there were more than 800 damaged farmers, the local town government came forward to coordinate and entrusted an appraisal agency to appraise the damaged houses. The appraisal fee was paid by the highway and bridge company. According to the appraisal opinion, the highway and bridge company first advanced the losses of the five farmers. After obtaining the claims, it filed a lawsuit with the court, requiring the insurance company to make a claim. After going through the first and second instances, the final effective judgment determined that the insurance company should make a claim. However, the insurance company still refused to pay the losses of more than 700 other farmers. The highway and bridge company appointed lawyers to negotiate many times, but none of them worked. Later, the highway and bridge company advanced the losses of more than 700 farmers and filed a lawsuit with the court again. After the first instance, second instance and retrial, the court finally upheld the insurance company's judgment that the insurance company should make claims.
Lawyer Strategy:
(1) The highway and bridge company has already purchased construction all risk insurance from the insurance company, and the housing losses of farmers caused by engineering blasting should be included in the compensation scope of construction all risk insurance, and then compensated by the insurance company; (2) Stabilize the emotions of farmers and ensure that compensation is provided legally and reasonably; (3) Report insurance to the insurance company and request compensation from the insurance company; (4) When the insurance company refuses to pay, they negotiate and negotiate with the insurance company multiple times; (5) If the insurance company still refuses to pay, file a lawsuit with the court for judgment.
Specific measures: (1) Study the all risk insurance clauses for construction projects, as well as the Insurance Law, while searching for cases and judicial opinions, and ultimately determine that the damage to farmers' houses caused by engineering blasting should be included in the losses caused by accidents as stipulated in the "All Risk Insurance for Construction Projects", which belong to the insurance liability stipulated in the insurance contract; (2) In the event that the insurance company refuses to claim compensation due to the large number of farmers involved, in order to avoid group incidents and maintain stable and smooth construction progress, under the leadership of the government, an appraisal agency will conduct a loss appraisal. After determining the loss, the highway bridge company will first compensate, and then the highway bridge company will require the insurance company to bear the insurance liability according to the insurance contract; (3) At the stage of filing a lawsuit based on the all risk insurance contract for construction projects, the first and second instance courts supported the claims of the highway and bridge company by claiming losses from five representative households; (4) After the court supported the claim of the highway bridge company, the company negotiated with the insurance company to determine the compensation for the loss of more than 700 houses in the future. Due to unsuccessful negotiations, in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the highway bridge company, the company filed another lawsuit with the court. After the first instance court supported the company's claim, the insurance company appealed to the second instance court, which ruled to reject the appeal and uphold the original judgment. The insurance company applied for a retrial, and the retrial court ruled to reject the retrial application. In the end, the highway and bridge company received corresponding compensation.
The court determined that the property loss in this case falls within the scope of compensation stipulated in the insurance terms, and the insurance company should compensate according to the contract. Based on this, the first instance court ruled that the insurance company should pay compensation and appraisal fees to the highway and bridge company. After the insurance company appealed, the second instance court rejected the appeal and upheld the original verdict. Afterwards, the insurance company applied for a retrial, and after review, the retrial court ruled to reject the insurance company's retrial application. The highway and bridge company ultimately received the corresponding compensation.
Typical significance:
The highway project involved in this case is a major transportation infrastructure in the province, and the construction of this project is of great significance in promoting the economic development of the whole province. During the construction process, nearby farmers' houses were damaged due to engineering blasting. The highway and bridge company, together with the local government, promptly and fully paid compensation to the people whose houses were damaged, maintained social stability, and ensured the construction environment. There were no group incidents or obstacles to construction. The highway and bridge company strictly fulfills the contract, maintains corporate reputation, and effectively handles the related legacy issues caused by blasting construction. In addition, the highway and bridge company successfully requested the insurance company to assume insurance liability through litigation and recovered the corresponding losses.

Please first Loginlater ~