In Stella Property Development and Event Production, LLC v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, 2026 WL 221489 (W.D. Pa. 2026), the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied summary judgment as to the applicability of the subject property policy’s (i) wear and tear and (ii) inadequate maintenance exclusions, holding that those issues were to be resolved by the factfinder rather than decided as a matter of law. However, the Court further held that if (i) wear and tear and (ii) inadequate maintenance were ultimately found to be dominant and efficient causes of the roof damage, the ensuing loss clauses would not reinstate coverage because those excluded conditions merely increased the roof’s susceptibility to wind damage, rather than resulting…
