Appellees, Calvin and Audrey Bones, were sued when they refused to honor their contractual guarantee of their son’s lease obligations, resulting in the eviction of their son’s co-tenant from the premises. *554 The Bones seek coverage from their homeowners insurer, appellant, Continental Insurance Company, for the lawsuit filed against them by the co-tenant.
The district court granted summary judgment to the Bones, finding coverage for one of the claims of the co-tenant entitled “wrongful eviction” because that tort was included within thе policy’s coverage of personal injury. Simultaneously, the court denied Continental’s motion for summary judgment. Our review of the undisputed facts underlying the court’s rulings reveals that the claims made against the Bones are based on their breach of contract, not their commission of the tort of wrongful eviction. We also reject the Bones’ claim that the co-tenant’s loss of use of the leased premises constituted “property damage” as that term is defined in the Continental policy. Therefore, we reverse the district cоurt’s rulings on the parties’ summary judgment motions and remand for entry of a declaratory judgment in favor of Continental.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
The parties agree that the material facts are undisputed.
A.Contractual agreements. This coverage dispute has its genesis in a lease agreement between the Bones’ son, Gordon, and Bernard Bunning. In July 1995, Gordon and Bunning signed a five-year lease with Sunriver Business Venture, Ltd. for the rental of a commercial building in California. Gordon planned to operate a law office out of part of the building; Bun-ning was an accountant and intended to use his portion of the premises for an accounting office. Gordon and Bunning agreed to divide the rent and associated expenses.
Because Gordon’s credit situation was insufficient to enter into a long-term commercial lease, his parents provided Bun-ning with a personal guarantee wherein they agreed to establish a $50,000 line of irrevocable credit. The Bones did in fact obtain an irrevocable letter of credit from Firstar Bank of Iowa. The purpose of the letter of credit was to protect Bunning in the event of a default by Gordon on his lease obligations.
B. Breach of the contractual agreements. Subsequent to the execution of the lease, Gordon established a partnership with two other attorneys, David G. Knitter and Timothy J. Lopez. This partnership operated from the leased space and purportedly assumed Gordon’s lease obligations. The relationship between Gordon and his new partners soured rather quickly, however, and Gordon was expelled from the partnership in August 1996.
When the October 1996 rent became due, neither Gordon nor his former partners paid their half of the rent. Bunning tendered his share to Sunriver, but this partial payment was insufficient to prevent Sunriver from serving Bunning with a three-day notice to pay the rent or surrender the premises. When payment was not forthcoming, Sunriver declared the lease terminated and filed an unlawful detainer action against Bunning, Gordon, Bones, and all persons claiming an interest in the property under them.
Upon the filing of the unlawful detainer action, Bunning attempted to have the Bones pay Gordon’s overdue rent pursuant to the guarantee agreement. He also sought to draw on the letter of credit. The Bones refused to honor their guarantee and obtained an ex parte injunction preventing Bunning from drawing on the letter of credit.
In the meantime, Sunriver was successful in its unlawful detainer action and obtained a writ of possession against the lessees. Bunning was thus evicted from the premises for failure to pay rent.
C. The underlying suit for tuhich coverage is sought. After his eviction from the leased premises, Bunning filed a complaint in the California state courts naming Gordon, and his parents, among others, as defendants. Six causes of action were al *555 leged against the Bones, but they rest their claim of coverage on only one of the six. The relevant claim is captioned “Wrongful Eviction Against All Named Defendants Except FIRSTAR BANK OF IOWA.” We will review the allegations of the complaint in more detail in our later discussion of the issues.
The Bones demanded that Continental defend them in the California action, asserting the liability coverage of their homeowners policy encompassed the claim entitled “wrongful eviction.” Continental declined to defend and denied coverage.
D. The insurance policy. Because the dispute between the parties to this insurance contract turns on whether the complaint alleges property damage or personal injury, we will review only the policy provisions pertinent to these issues. The insuring agreement of the Continental policy obligates the insurer to defend any suit brought against the insureds for “personal injury” or “property damage” and to pay on behalf of the insureds claims for which they “are legally liable.” The policy defines the term “property damage” to mean “physical injury to or destruction of real property or tangible personal proрerty including loss of use of the property.” (Emphasis added.) The term “personal injury” is defined as an “injury arising out of one or more of the following offenses: libel, slander, false arrest, wrongful eviction -” (Emphasis added.)
E. Declaratory judgment action. Continental brought this declaratory judgment action in the Iowa district court, asking the court to hold that it had no duty to defend or indemnify the Bones for the claims asserted against them by Bunning. The Bones filed a counterclaim, seeking a declaratory judgment that Continental did have a duty to defend and indemnify them with respect to the claims made in the California lawsuit.
The Bones filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that сoverage was provided for the wrongful eviction claim under two theories: (1) the wrongful eviction claim encompassed a claim for “loss of use” within the meaning of the policy definition of property damage; and (2) this cause of action was included within the policy definition of personal injury. Continental filed its own motion for summary judgment and argued that the wrongful eviction claim was really a breach-of-contract claim that did not fall within the policy definitions of either property damage or personal injury. The district court granted the Bones’ motion and denied Continental’s motion. Continental appealed.
II. Scope of Review.
Our review of a ruling on summary judgment is for the correction of errors of law.
See DeLaMater v. Marion Civil Serv. Comm’n,
In the case before us, the parties agree that the material facts are not in dispute. The determinative issue is whether the undisputed facts give rise to coverage under the Continental policy. This issue, in turn, deрends on whether the claim entitled “wrongful eviction” falls within the policy’s definition of “property damage” or “personal injury.” Because the parties have offered no extrinsic evidence on the meaning of the policy language at issue, interpretation of this language is a question of law for the court.
See Tropf v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co.,
III. General Principles of Insurance Contract Interpretation.
We have recently summarized the rules that guide our interpretation of insurance policies:
“The intent of the parties controls. We determine the parties’ intent from *556 the language of the policy, unless the pоlicy is ambiguous. Ambiguity exists when, after application of principles of contract interpretation, a genuine uncertainty remains as to which one of two or more meanings is the proper one. A mere disagreement between the parties as to the meaning of policy language does not establish an ambiguity. Only when the pohcy language is susceptible to two reasonable interpretations do we find an ambiguity.”
We give pohcy language its plain and ordinary meaning and do not indulge in a strained or unnatural interpretаtion merely to find ambiguity.
Id.
(citation omitted) (quoting
Kibbee v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.,
IV. Property Damage.
As mentioned above, the policy defines property damage as “physical injury to or destruction of real property or tangible personal property including loss of use of the property.” The Bones claim that because Bunning’s eviction from the premises resulted in his loss of use of the real estate, he has alleged property damage for which the pоlicy provides coverage. They make no claim that any real or personal property was physically injured or destroyed.
Whether the loss of use of property must be caused by the property’s physical injury or destruction in order to fall within the policy definition of property damage is an issue of first impression for this court.
1
In fact, very few courts have addressed this issue with respect to the policy language before us, and those courts have reached differing results.
Compare Coulter v. CIGNA Prop. & Cas. Cos.,
*557
The federal district court in
Coulter
relied on the historical development of the poliсy definition of property damage, as well as the common meaning of the policy language, in deciding that the policy unambiguously required physical damage or destruction of property to trigger coverage.
The court, however, fails to see how the 1973 revision lends itself to an interpretation that loss of use damages unaccompanied by physical damage or injury are covered as “property damage,” where the second prong of the CGL definition is not given as an alternative to the first prong. Clearly, the second prong was added in 1973 to cover loss of use damages to tangible property that are unaccompanied by physical dаmage or destruction. Thus, because the drafters found that a second prong was necessary for loss of use damages unaccompanied by physical damage, the first prong defining property damage as “physical injury to or destruction of tangible property ..., including loss of use thereof at any time resulting therefrom” must require loss of use damages to be accompanied by physical injury or destruction.
Id. at 1121 (interpreting language “including the loss of use of that property”).
The ordinary meaning of the language of the poliсy definition was also determinative in the decision of the
Coulter
court, as well as in the decision.of the-Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the
Ehlers
case.
See id.; Ehlers,
We conclude that the clause “including loss of use of this property” is unambiguous. The only reasonable meaning of the clause is that it defines property damage to include loss of use damage that accompanies physical injury or destruction ....
The loss of use clause is introduced by the verb “including.” The dictionary defines “including” as “to take in or comprise as part of a whole....” The Mir-rianu-Webster Dictionary 358 (1974). The loss of use clause is thus introduced as a subset of “physical injury to or physical destruction of tangible property.” If the loss of use clause were interpreted as the [insureds] would have it, i.e., as any nonphysical injury to tangible property, the definition of property damage would effectively read: “physical injury to ... tangible property, including non-physical injury.” We reject such a contradictory reading.
Ehlers,
We find the reasoning of the two courts reaching a contrary conclusion less
*558
persuasive. The Maine court’s analysis was very abbreviated; without any discussion of the policy language, the court merely cited as support for its holding the general principle that policies of insurance are interpreted “‘most strongly’ against the insurer.”
Gibson,
The First'Circuit’s analysis in the
American Home
case is equally unenlightening.
See American Home Assurance Co.,
In our view, neither the First Circuit, the Maine Supreme Court, nor the insureds in the present case have presented a cogent rationale for their interpretation of the policy. Therefore, we conclude that the only reasonable interpretation of the policy definition of property damage is that adopted by the courts in Coulter, Ehl-ers, and Dixon. Accordingly, damages for loss of use of tangible property are covered by the Continental policy only if the property has been physically injured or destroyed. Because there is no dispute that the premises from which Bunning was evicted were not physically injured or destroyed, any loss of use of those premises for which Bunning seeks to recover in the California lawsuit is not covered “property damage” under Continental’s policy of insurance.
V. Personal Injury.
It is helpful at this point in our discussion to review .the allegations of Bunning’s complaint in more detail. The Bones rest their claim of coverage on the count entitled “Wrongful Eviction Against All Named Defendants Except FIRSTAR *559 BANK OF IOWA.” The pertinent paragraph of this count states:
On or about October 29, 1996, defendant SUNRIVER actually and constructively wrongfully evicted plaintiff from the Premises by serving a three-day notice on plaintiff to pay rent or quit the premises, filing an Unlawful Detainer action against plaintiff and wrongfully declaring the Lease to be terminated. Defendants DAVID G. KNITTER, TIMOTHY J. LOPEZ, KNITTER & LOPEZ, GORDON G. BONES, CALVIN BONES and AUDREY BONES participated in and were a substantial factor in bringing about this wrongful eviction by their wrongful conduct as set forth throughout this complaint, the allegations of which are incorporated herein by reference.
(Emphasis added.) Two allegations of wrongful conduct against Calvin and Audrey Bones ar made in the complaint:
23. On November 6, 1996, defendants CALVIN BONES, AUDREY BONES, and GORDON G. BONES, through their attorney, sent а written request to defendant FIRSTAR that it not allow BUNNING to draw on' the Irrevocable Letter of Credit. A true and correct copy of this request is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit J.
24. On or about November 8, 1996, defendants CALVIN BONES and AUDREY BONES filed an action in Potta-wattamie County District Court in the State of Iowa and obtained an ex parte Writ of Injunction against BUNNING and defendant FIRSTAR enjoining BUNNING from drawng on the Irrevocable Letter of Credit and enjoining FIRSTAR from paying BUNNING pursuant to the Irrevocable Letter of Credit. A true and correct copy of the Petition for Injunction and accompanying Order are attached to this complaint as Exhibit K.
The Bones have not submitted any relevant facts other than those contained in the California complaint. Therefore, we will determine coverage from the allegations of fact made in that complaint.
See First Newton Nat’l Bank v. General Cas. Co.,
We now turn to the policy language to determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint give rise to a “possible or potential liability to indemnify” the Bones. Id. The Bones claim that Bunning’s allegations constitute a claim for wrongful eviction so as to fall within the policy’s definition of personal injury, which includes the offense of wrongful eviction. They primarily rely on the fact that the count in question is entitled “wrongful eviction,” as well as Bunning’s allegation that the Bones “participated in and were a substantial factor in bringing about this wrongful eviction.” We conclude, however, from our review of the complaint that the Bones are not alleged to have wrongfully evicted Bunning from the premises, but rather that the wrongful eviction is the damage sustained by Bunning as a result of the Bones’ wrongful conduct.
We start with the observation that coverage is controlled by the actual claim asserted against the insured, not the label the claimant chooses to put on his or her claim.
See Essex Ins. Co. v. Fieldhouse, Inc.,
We now examine the factual allegations of the complaint to determine what claim was actually asserted by Bunning.
See Reames v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Ins.,
Stated differently, the damages sought by Bunning from the Bones arose out of the Bones’ breach of contract, not from any wrongful eviction. Bunning’s eviction from the leased premises is relevant only insofar as it is an element of damage arising from the Bones’ breach of contract.
This conclusion is in accord with the holding of other courts considering analogous facts. In
Pace Construction Co. v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Insurance Co.,
Pace, having breached its contractual duty to procure insurance, became legally obligated to pay damages to Weber, but those damages were not “because of' bodily injury caused by an occurrence.” Weber’s damages, while measured by [the third party’s] injuries, were caused, not by [the third party’s] accident, but by Pace’s breach.
Id. at 180.
The Alabama Supreme Court made a similar distinction in
Reliance Insurance Co. v. Gary C. Wyatt, Inc.,
The breach of contract was the failure to procure liability insurance. This is not an “occurrence” that results in bodily injury or property damage. [The employee’s] injury may go to the issue of damages sustained by this breach of contract, but it is not the “occurrence” that causes the breach of contract. The *561 contract had been breached, with or without [the employee’s] injury.
Id. at 690.
The same reasoning is appropriate here. The Bones’ wrongful conduct is their failure to perform the guarantee agreement. Bunning’s eviction may go to the issue of damаges, but the contract had been breached when the Bones failed to pay Gordon’s rent, regardless of whether Bun-ning was eventually evicted.
Before we conclude our discussion of this issue, we address a final argument made by the Bones in reliance on Continental’s agreement in the policy to provide a defense “even if the suit is groundless.” The Bones argue that they should not be denied a defense simply because Bunning has not adequately pled or cannot prove a claim of wrongful eviction. This argument, however, is contrаry to our previous interpretation of the groundless-suit language upon which the Bones rely. In
Chipokas v. Travelers Indemnity Co.,
In summary, we hold that the claim made against the Bones, although entitled “wrongful eviction,” is based not on the tort of wrongful eviction, but on the Bones’ breach of contract. Therefore, this claim does not fall within the policy definition of personal injury.
Cf. County of Columbia v. Continental Ins. Co.,
VI. Disposition.
We hold that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the Bones. Because the undisputed facts show there is no possibility that Continental would be liable under its policy, the trial court should have granted Continental’s motion for summary judgment. We reverse the ‘rulings of the district court on the parties’ motions for summary judgment. We remand to the district court for entry of summary judgment in favor of Continental holding that it has no duty to defend or indemnify the Bones with respect to the claims made against them by Burning.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Notes
. This court has considerеd a similar issue • before, but under policy language significantly different from the language before us here.
See First Newton Nat’l Bank v. General Cas, Co.,
(1) physical injury to or destruction of tangible property which occurs during the policy period, including the loss of use thereof at any time resulting therefrom, or (2) loss of use of tangible property which has not been physically injured or destroyed provided such loss of use is caused by an occurrence during the policy period.
Id. (emphasis added). We held that loss of use was covered even though the property was not physically injured. Id. Significantly, the policy issued by Continental dоes not include the second part of the definition of property damage present in the First Newton-case.
. The
policy definitions of property damage considered in these cases vary slightly, sometimes referring to "the loss of use of
that
property,” "the loss of use of
this
property,” "the loss of use
thereof,"
or, as in the case before us, "the loss of use of
the
property.” We conclude these minor variations are not material fo an interpretation of these policy definitions, which, as our subsequent discussion reveals, turns on the history of this policy provision and the common meaning of the verb, "including.”
See Coulter,
