ALLSTATE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY ET AL. v. SEVIER COUNTY ELECTRIC SYSTEM ET AL. - Articles

All Content

ALLSTATE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY ET AL. v. SEVIER COUNTY ELECTRIC SYSTEM ET AL.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Aug 23, 2022

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1: Matthew J. Evans, Knoxville, Tennessee; Mark S. Grotefeld, Austin, Texas; Amy L. Dvorak, Emma L. Gaddipati, and Mark L. McGuire, Chicago, Illinois; Shawn E. Caine, Del Mar, California; and Craig S. Simon, Irvine, California, for the appellants, Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company; Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Company; Allstate Insurance Company; Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company; Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Insurance Group; Cincinnati Insurance Company; LM Insurance Corporation; Lexington Insurance Company; Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company; General Insurance Company of America; Safeco Insurance Company of America; State Farm Fire & Casualty Company; State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company; United Services Automobile Association; USAA Casualty Insurance Company; USAA General Indemnity Company; Garrison Property and Casualty Company; Farmers Insurance Exchange; Foremost Insurance Company Grand Rapids, Michigan; and United National Insurance Company.

Attorneys 2: Jessalyn H. Zeigler, Sara Morgan, and Scott D. Gallisdorfer, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Wolf Tree, Inc.

Judge(s): FRIERSON

This appeal involves several consolidated actions that were filed by insurance companies concerning a wildfire that occurred in Sevier County on November 28, 2016. The insurance companies alleged that the fire was sparked by a decaying Northern Red Oak tree that fell on an electrical service conductor and that the fire quickly spread to neighboring properties, including properties owned by their insureds. The insurance companies urged that the vegetation management contractor should be held liable for the losses for failing to prune or remove the diseased tree before it fell on the conductor. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the vegetation management contractor, determining, inter alia, that the contractor owed no duty to prune trees located near service drops or to inspect or remove trees that were outside the right of way that the contractor had agreed to maintain. The insurance companies have appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the vegetation management contractor.

Attachments: