Teufel v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co.

JUSTICE TIMMER, opinion of the Court:

¶1 Homeowner's policies that insure against personal liability generally require the insurer to defend the insured against claims that fall within the policy's coverage. We here decide whether a policy exclusion for personal liability "under any contract or agreement" relieves an insurer of defending its insured, an alleged builder-vendor, against a claim for negligent excavation brought by the home buyer. We hold that the exclusion does not apply to relieve the insurer of its duty to defend because the negligence claim arises from the common law duty to…