Georgia Court Allows Insured to Recover Cost of Repair and Loss in Value

July 6, 2012:  In the most recent article for “Burke’s Law,” Demotech’s Legal Counsel and Compliance Manager, Burke Coleman, reviewed the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision to allow an insured to recover from its insurer both the cost to repair its damaged building as well as the loss in value resulting from the stigma of damaged property.

Damages are typically measured either as the cost of repair or the diminution in value.  Some courts have allowed an insured to recover under both theories, but such application is generally reserved for cases of damaged automobiles.   With its decision in Royal Capital Development, LLC v. Maryland Casualty Company, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 501, the Georgia Supreme Court extended this principle to damaged buildings.  The court was motivated less by a strict reading of the insurance policy and more by its desire to make the insured whole.  As a result of the decision, insurers may now be responsible for covering both the cost to repair a damaged building and the loss in value.  The entire article can be read at www.claimsjournal.com.