Malmquist awarded $1 million in damages
The Montana Supreme Court this week affirmed the district court's decision that an insurance agency, Rames Inc. had a duty to procure additional insurance coverage for a construction company, TCF Enterprises Inc., DBA Malmquist Construction.
The court found that Rames, formerly known as Central Insurance Agency, breached its duty, and the standard of care and negligently misrepresented that it had obtained insurance coverage for TCF and Malmquist.
The court ruled that the insurance policy's professional services exclusion would not have barred coverage for defense and indemnity.
Malmquist was sued by a developer over a defect in construction and realized it wasn't covered as an additional insured under a subcontractor's insurance policy.
According to the suit, Rames had been told by the subcontractor to add Malmquist as an additional insured, however, Rames did not perform that duty.
The district court jury had awarded damages to Malmquist in the amount of $1,022,257.85. Rames appealed, but the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision.