Insurance Agency Denies Liability for Misrepresentations Related to Shooting *Centurion Insurance AFS*

A Pennsylvania insurance agency is denying allegations by owners of a Pittsburgh apartment building that it is liable for the denial of a 2023 fire insurance claim and cancellation of the property’s policy because of misrepresentations related to a shooting that took place on the property in 2022.

The independent insurance agency maintains that the building owners never told them about the shooting or about the building’s prior insurer’s cancellation — events that were misrepresented on an application for replacement coverage submitted to Frederick Mutual.

The owners of the 900 North Group real estate firm claim in their lawsuit filed last November that the Pleasant Hills insurance agency Eber & Associates submitted an application for insurance to Frederick Mutual in December 2022 on their behalf without them signing off on it. The firm was seeking to replace coverage after Nationwide Insurance refused to renew their insurance following the April 2022 shooting in an apartment in the building that was rented out by tenants as an Airbnb.

The shooting resulted in two deaths and injuries to several others. Multiple lawsuits have been filed on behalf of those killed and injured during the incident. The 900 North Group has been named as a defendant in those lawsuits. Nationwide declined to review the policy in December 2022, which prompted 900 North Group to contact Eber & Associates, which was able to secure new coverage from Frederick Mutual.

The property owners claim they told Eber & Associates about the shooting, which they described as “a highly-publicized incident in the local media.” They also maintain they told the agency about the cancellation by Nationwide. They allege that the insurance agency submitted the insurance application to Frederick Mutual containing misrepresentations without their approval.

Eber & Associates denies that they ever were told about the shooting or the Nationwide non-renewal. The insurance agency has also submitted evidence it says shows that one of the property owners signed off on the insurance application as completed via the electronic document service DocuSign on December 23, 2022.

The agency maintains the parties discussed the property but at no time did the owners advise the agency about the issues regarding the property that they have raised in their complaint.

“At no time did Plaintiff advise Defendant that the subject property had been the scene of a shooting, that Plaintiff was the defendant in multiple lawsuits, that the prior insurance carrier failed to renew its insurance coverage, or that there were claims made against the subject property,” the agency’s answer to the lawsuit asserts.

The agency said it relied upon the owners to provide “truthful information in order to fill out the application.”

When the property owners submitted a claim for substantial damage from a fire in April 2023, Frederick Mutual declined the claim and cancelled the policy because it said it discovered that the insurance application did not truthfully answer questions about the property’s history including whether there have been any past claims, crimes or cancellations related to the building.

The property owners claim that no one from Eber & Associates asked anyone from 900 North Group for the information needed on the application, “and the inaccurate responses that were included on the application were completed solely by representatives of Eber & Associates.”

They further claim that “most” of the inaccurate responses and misrepresentations were “directly contrary” to information provided by 900 North Group to the agent during the initial discussion that led to the application for insurance being submitted to Frederick Mutual.

The owners say they never received an e-mail from DocuSign, which is sent when an application is ready to be reviewed or signed, and they never saw the application, nor were they ever informed about the contents of the application.

Because of the misrepresentations, Frederick Mutual denied coverage for the April 2023 fire damage and rescinded the insurance policy on October 9, 2023.