Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. v. Chicago Trust Co.

930 F.3d 910 (7th Cir. 2019)

Words & Phrases

Limits Of Liability

Trial Judge

Joan Humphrey Lefkow

Appellate Judge

Easterbrook

Holding

Excess insurer liability limited by a $250,000 physical abuse sublimit.

Fact Summary

The question in this case is what portion of the se]lement (and any other losses related to Kianna’s death) must be paid by Baby Fold’s insurer. Philadelphia Indemnity filed this declaratory-judgment suit under the diversity jurisdic- tion and asked the judge to declare how much it owes under two policies covering Baby Fold at the time of Kianna’s death. We refer to the policies as the primary policy and the excess policy. The insurer asked for a declaration that its maximum indemnity is $1 million under the primary policy and $250,000 under the excess policy. Baby Fold and Chica- go Trust filed counterclaims: They agree that the primary policy provides $1 million of coverage but contend that the excess policy’s limit is $5 million, not $250,000. Philadelphia moved to dismiss Chicago Trust’s counterclaim under Fed.Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The district judge concluded that the policies’ language favors the insurer and granted the motion to dismiss. The opinion declared that Philadelphia’s potential liability under the excess policy is $250,000. 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165071 at *25–26 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 26, 2018).

We affirm.

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