Hatfield v. Barton Mutual Insurance Co.

The trial court entered summary judgment for plaintiff1 on a fire insurance claim, finding defendant’s cancellation notice “ambiguous in that it failed to specify which of the plaintiffs multiple properties, insured with defendant, was intended by defendant to be cancelled.” That notice specified, by policy number, a single policy covering only the house that burned and no others.

No one has cited any case suggesting that such notice is ambiguous. On de novo review, we find no ambiguity. We reverse the summary judgment and remand the case, for further proceedings.

Background

We focus on facts…