Yarborough v. Erie Inspection Servs., Inc., 2024-Ohio-1712
The plaintiff was a real estate agent who was injured when she fell through an open inspection panel in the floor of a bathroom at a house that she had listed. She sued the property inspector who had been there before her, alleging that he had opened the floor to perform his inspection and failed to replace the covering, resulting in her injuries. The property inspector’s insurer, Frankenmuth, moved to intervene, arguing that the CGL policy they issued to the property inspector did not provide coverage for this incident. Frankenmuth relied on the Professional Services Exclusion.
Frankenmuth’s insured argued that inspection services were not professional services; that the alleged incident did not result from professional services because the alleged failure to replace the floor covering was a route manual and physical process; and that if the court enforced the exclusion, it would render the coverage illusory and, therefore, the exclusion should be unenforceable.
The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Frankenmuth, finding no coverage due to the Professional Services Exclusion. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
