Midwest Exterior Renovations, LLC v. Progressive Classic Insurance Company, 2024AP000183

Midwest Exterior Renovations contracted with 2nd Chance Exteriors, insured by Progressive, for home improvements; the underlying dispute arose from alleged deficient work.
Midwest named both 2nd Chance and Progressive (as possible insurer) as defendants in a lawsuit after contract breaches.
Progressive was served but failed to file a timely response, leading to Midwest's successful motion for a default judgment.
Progressive received notice of the default judgment but waited nearly four months to move to vacate it, citing ongoing internal investigation.
In seeking relief, Progressive argued it was not the actual insurer liable under the policy and that extraordinary circumstances justified vacatur under Wis. Stat. § 806.07(1)(h).
The circuit court denied Progressive's motion to vacate, leading to this appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff Argument	Defendant Argument	Held
Whether the circuit court abused its discretion in denying relief from default judgment under Wis. Stat. § 806.07(1)(h)	Proper default judgment due to defendant's own neglect, no extraordinary circumstances	Default judgment is unjust as Progressive is not the liable insurer, and delay was due to internal review	No abuse of discretion; court considered and weighed all relevant equitable factors
Whether the Miller factors were properly applied in the circuit court's analysis	Court correctly assessed Progressive's fault, delays, and lack of prejudice to Plaintiff	Court failed to adequately weigh Plaintiff's lack of liability and focused excessively on delay	Court appropriately weighed factors; Plaintiff simply disagrees with weight given
Whether lack of prejudice to Midwest justified vacating default judgment	Granting relief would be inequitable after Plaintiff acted diligently and communication was ignored	No prejudice to Midwest if relief is granted; claim can proceed against correct insurer	Prejudice not required to be express; circumstances weighed against granting relief
Whether default judgment should stand against party with claimed meritorious defense	Midwest used due diligence, and meritorious defense does not outweigh equities	Meritorious defense (no liability) should have warranted vacatur	Meritorious defense accepted as true but outweighed by defendant's failures and equities

Miller v. Hanover Ins. Co., 326 Wis. 2d 640 (Wis. 2010) (sets out five factors for relief from judgment under extraordinary circumstances)
Sukala v. Heritage Mut. Ins. Co., 282 Wis. 2d 46 (Wis. 2005) (discretionary review standard for relief from judgments)
State ex rel. M.L.B. v. D.G.H., 122 Wis. 2d 536 (Wis. 1985) (relief from judgment may be granted in equity upon extraordinary circumstances)