Tag Archives: Robinson Sheppard Shapiro

By Eloïse Robichaud, from our Insurance Law Practice Group

July 7, 2020 — Approximately 800 property owners in the Trois-Rivières area have brought a claim against contractors and formworkers (for the construction of houses and foundations), a geologist who had prepared certain reports on the quality of the aggregate used for the concrete foundations, as well as his employer (SNC Lavalin), the concrete mixers (CYB and BL) and the company operating the quarry from which the aggregate was extracted (B&B), as well as their insurers. The property owners alleged that their houses suffered from a major defect, namely the swelling of the concrete, affecting the foundations.

By Jeanine Guindi, from our Insurance Law Practice Group

July 3, 2020 — The decision of the Court of Appeal in Deguise and its conclusions arising from the problems caused by pyrrhotite in the foundations of many buildings in the Trois-Rivières will leave a significant impact in Quebec’s judicial history. The decision also confirms important concepts as to the interpretation of certain clauses in liability insurance policies as to the protection offered for specific insurance periods.

By Jean-François Lamoureux, from our Insurance Law Practice Group

July 3, 2020 — As one can easily imagine, a judgment of over 350 pages from the Court of Appeal will raise numerous different questions.
One of those questions (the 68th raised by the parties!) touched an important subject of the insurance coverage in a general civil liability policy. When a damage occurs that manifests itself only after several months or years but that, by its very nature, had to start much earlier, which policy is triggered? The Court of Appeal had to determine the moment that the damage occurred in order to determine if the insurance policies issued, especially those of the supplier of materials and the general contractor, covered the damages claimed by the Plaintiffs (the home owners).

By Nicolas Pfister, from our Insurance Law Practice Group

July 3, 2020 — In the matter of SNC-Lavalin Inc. (Terratech Inc. et SNC-Lavalin Environnement Inc.) c. Deguise, the excess insurers Northbridge and AIG argued that the non-cumulation of liability clause in the insurance policy was applicable to the facts at issue. The Court of Appeal dismissed the argument and thus accepted the trial judge’s analysis. It should be noted that only the provisions of AIG’s policy were analysed since Northbridge’s policy was a follow form type policy and must therefore follow the provisions of AIG’s policy.

By Chantal Noël, from our Insurance Law Practice Group

July 3, 2020 — The “pyrrhotite case” led to numerous disputes in which the plaintiffs alleged the existence of a latent defect affecting the solidity of the foundations of their building due to the presence of pyrrhotite in the concrete.