Faulty Home Construction Not Covered by Insurance, Court Finds

Defective workmanship on a house isn’t considered property damage in the context of an insurance claim, a panel of Massachusetts Appeals Court judges ruled Wednesday.

Two homeowners argued insurer Main Street American Assurance Co. should be on the hook for coverage after contractor R.C. Havens & Sons’ construction led to structural defects. A jury awarded the two more than $272,000 in damages.

But the court disagreed, with Associate Justice Sookyoung Shin writing that commercial general liability policies “define ‘property damage’ as ‘physical injury,’ which suggests the property was not defective at the outset, but rather was initially proper and injured ...