Quigley v. Bay State Graphics Inc.5/15/1998
Essex.
April 6, 1998.
Practice, Civil, Summary judgment. Negligence, Insurance agent, Insurance company, In obtaining insurance policy. Contract, To obtain insurance. Insurance, Comprehensive liability insurance, Agent's negligence.
Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 2, 1993.
The case was heard by Howard J. Whitehead, J., on motions for summary judgment, and entry of separate and final judgment was ordered by Richard E. Welch, III, J.
The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
This action stems from a December, 1992, fire that destroyed a commercial building in Chelsea owned by the plaintiffs Andrew P. Quigley, Jr., and Stephen Quigley, trustees of a testamentary trust (trustees), and damaged printing equipment in the building in which Journal Transcript Newspapers, Inc. (Journal Transcript), held a security interest. Michael Ploude, the president of the defendant Bay State Graphics, Inc. (Bay State), the commercial tenant in the building, was later convicted of arson and insurance fraud. The trustees commenced this action for declaratory relief on March 2, 1993, and, on January 10, 1994, were granted leave to amend their complaint to add Journal Transcript as a plaintiff. The amended complaint asserted claims of negligence, breach of contract, and violations of G. L. c. 176D and G. L. c. 93A against Royal Insurance Companies (Royal Insurance) and its agent Cochrane & Porter Insurance Agency, Inc. (Cochrane & Porter), in connection with a comprehensive general liability policy that had been issued to Bay State.
In early 1996, Cochrane & Porter and Royal Insurance each filed a motion for summary judgment on the negligence and contract claims. The motions were allowed by a Judge in the Superior Court on July 16, 1996. The plaintiffs took an appeal from his order. We transferred the appeal here on our own motion. We affirm the grant of summary judgment.
1. Facts. We summarize the facts viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the parties that opposed the motions for summary judgment. Tetrault v. Mahoney, Hawkes & Goldings, 425 Mass. 456, 459 (1997). The trustees own the building located at 18 Fourth Street in Chelsea. In 1988, Journal Transcript bought four newspapers from the trustees, and the trustees in turn leased the building to Journal Transcript. Pursuant to the lease, Journal Transcript was responsible for purchasing and maintaining insurance coverage on the building for the benefit of the trustees. As to any such insurance, the record discloses only that for the period October 23, 1990, to October 23, 1991, Journal Publishing Corp., predecessor to Journal Transcript, was listed as the named insured on a commercial property insurance policy issued by Brian K. McCarthy Insurance Agency insuring the building. The record does not disclose the nature of the insurance, if any, obtained by Journal Transcript for the benefit of the trustees.
In or about 1990, Journal Transcript sold its business and its printing equipment to "Journal Graphics," later known as Bay State. At the same time, Journal Transcript subleased the building to Bay State and, as collateral for a note, retained a security interest in the printing equipment in the building. The sublease agreement required Bay State to purchase and maintain insurance on the building for the benefit of the trustees, and on the secured equipment for the benefit of Journal Transcript. Bay State's president, Michael Ploude, was responsible for obtaining the insurance. The record does not disclose what, if any actions, Ploude took to obtain i
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