Frontier Custom Builders, Inc. v. Kinsale Insurance Company, 4:24-cv-00832

Frontier Custom Builders contracted to build a residence for the Glovers and was insured by Kinsale Insurance under a commercial general liability policy.
After completion and turnover of the home, the Glovers alleged property damage caused by construction defects including faulty HVAC installation.
The Glovers initiated arbitration against Frontier and received a damages award; Frontier sought indemnity and defense from Kinsale.
Kinsale denied coverage based on policy exclusions but paid most of the appraisal award except a disputed amount for additional living expenses.
Frontier sued Kinsale, alleging breach of contract and violations of the Texas Insurance Code and DTPA; Kinsale removed the case to federal court and sought summary judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Duty to Defend and Indemnify	Kinsale owed defense/indemnity per policy; failed.	No duty under policy; exclusions apply, complied with appraisal.	No duty; summary judgment for Kinsale.
Appraisal Award Payment	Untimely/incomplete payment breached contract.	Substantially paid award; minor disputed amount not breach.	Payment sufficient, no breach.
Extra-Contractual Claims (Bad Faith, Code)	Entitled to damages for Kinsale’s handling of claim.	No extra-contractual damages; no delay or bad faith.	No independent injury; denied.
Amount in Dispute (Living Expenses)	Entitled to additional living expenses.	Not adequately documented, outside policy, or settled.	No recovery; insufficient proof.

Ortiz v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 127 (Tex. 2019) (timely paid appraisal usually precludes breach of contract claim)
USAA Tex. Lloyds Co. v. Menchaca, 545 S.W.3d 479 (Tex. 2018) (plaintiff can't recover extra-contractual damages without policy entitlement)
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986) (summary judgment standard)
Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069 (5th Cir. 1994) (summary judgment standard)