Cardinal Building Materials, Inc. v. Amerisure Insurance Company, 97 F.4th 562

Cardinal Building Materials, Inc. (“Cardinal”) suffered tornado damage at its Bridgeton, Missouri facility in 2013 and made an insurance claim with Amerisure Insurance Company (“Amerisure”).
Amerisure paid $1.55 million to Cardinal initially and closed the file; over a year later, Cardinal sought additional coverage and provided Amerisure with a spreadsheet of further losses but lacked initial supporting documents.
Cardinal’s subsequent document production was voluminous, disorganized, and delayed, but eventually, all relevant records in its possession were provided; Cardinal also participated in an examination under oath.
Amerisure continued to seek additional documents and clarity on the losses but ultimately informed Cardinal that its claim investigation was ongoing and pending further analysis.
Before Amerisure completed its review, Cardinal sued Amerisure in federal court for breach of contract, vexatious refusal to pay, and unjust enrichment. The district court dismissed the unjust enrichment claim and granted summary judgment for Amerisure on the remaining claims, citing a material breach of a cooperation clause.
Cardinal appealed the summary judgment decision.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Did Cardinal materially breach the cooperation clause by its conduct during the claims process?	Cardinal substantially complied by eventually producing all requested documents and sitting for examination under oath.	Amerisure argues Cardinal's delays, disorganization, and lack of timeliness in responding to requests amounted to a material breach.	Genuine dispute exists—this is a factual issue for trial; summary judgment for Amerisure was improper.
Did Cardinal breach the requirement to provide a signed, sworn proof of loss?	Cardinal argues it was never asked by Amerisure for a formal proof of loss.	Amerisure claims Cardinal's repeated changes in claimed losses and lack of a formal proof of loss triggered a breach.	No policy breach—Amerisure failed to demonstrate it ever requested a proof of loss as required by the policy.
Should summary judgment be affirmed on other grounds relating to damages?	Not addressed (issues not reached below).	Argues no genuine issue of fact on damages beyond what was paid.	Remanded to district court to address in first instance.

McClune v. Farmers Ins., 12 F.4th 845 (8th Cir. 2021) (summarizes summary judgment standards and Missouri law on cooperation clauses)
Hendrix v. Jones, 580 S.W.2d 740 (Mo. 1979) (cooperation clauses are enforceable under Missouri law)
Northrop Grumman Guidance & Elecs. Co. v. Emp'rs Ins. Co. of Wausau, 612 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. Ct. App. 2020) (materiality of a cooperation clause breach is generally a factual issue)
Columbia Cas. Co. v. HIAR Holding, L.L.C., 411 S.W.3d 258 (Mo. 2013) (questions of material breach and prejudice under cooperation clauses are for the fact-finder)