Tenant is Co-Insured under Insurance Policy for Commercial and Residential Leases
A fire damaged an apartment complex covered by an insurance policy issued by the insurer. After the insurer had to pay the owner of the building insurance proceeds to repair the building, the insurer sought subrogation from some of the tenants whose leases had expired, resulting in a holdover tenancy, alleging they negligently started the fire.
The court followed the rule set out in Dix, holding that the tenant defendants were co-insureds of the policy, despite the fact that it was a commercial lease. The court further held that the language of the lease, considered as a whole, supported the holdover tenants being covered by the insurance policy, since it specifically excluded fire loss from damages that they would have to pay in the case of their neglect.
Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. T and N Master Builder & Renovators, 2011 WL 5073757, —N.E.2d —- (Ill.App. 2 Dist., 2011).
