Patricia Chafin, Administratrix v. Farmers & Mechanics Mutual, 751 S.E.2d 765

Patricia Chafin, administratrix of Freda Bradley’s estate, appeals a circuit court summary judgment for Farmers & Mechanics Mutual Insurance Co. on a homeowners policy claim.
Bradley claimed damages to the kitchen and bathroom floor, alleged to be caused by a policy-covered collapse, not a named peril.
Policy 8 covers collapse caused by hidden decay, but term collapse is not defined in the policy; settling, cracking, shrinking, bulging or expansion are excluded from collapse.
Engineer Franck’s 2005 and 2008 inspections attributed floor issues to settlement, improper framing, and water intrusion, not explicitly to hidden decay.
The circuit court held collapse unambiguous and not caused by hidden decay; the WV Supreme Court reversed, finding ambiguity and remanding for factual development on causation and definition.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Is 'collapse' ambiguous in the policy?	Bradley	Farmers	Ambiguous; term susceptible to more than one meaning.
Whether Bradley’s kitchen floor collapse was caused by hidden decay	Bradley	Farmers	Question for jury; genuine issue of material fact remains.
Whether Section 12 coverage for fungi/rot applies	Bradley	Farmers	Remanded for consideration consistent with ambiguity ruling.

Soliva v. Shand, Morahan & Co., Inc., 176 W. Va. 430 (1986) (plain meaning governs contract terms)
Prete v. Merchant’s Property Ins. Co., 159 W. Va. 508 (1976) (ambiguous terms defined by reasonable meanings)
Berkeley County Pub. Serv. v. Vitro Corp., 152 W. Va. 252 (1968) (ambiguity is a question of law for the court)
National Mut. Ins. Co. v. McMahon & Sons, 177 W. Va. 734 (1987) (ambiguous terms construed against insurer)
Potesta v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 202 W. Va. 308 (1998) (ambiguous terms construed in insured’s favor in WV)
Murray v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 203 W. Va. 477 (1998) (insurance clause interpretation in WV case law context)