Indiana High Court Sides with Contractors on Fire Costs

The Indiana Supreme Court says contractors who worked on a 19th century courthouse before a 2009 fire don’t have to pay some of costs of repairing the fire damage.

The decision upholds lower court rulings favoring three contractors that were remodeling the Jefferson County Courthouse before a May 2009 fire caused more than $6 million in damage to the 1855 building in Madison.

The court concluded the Ohio River county agreed to waive its rights by relying on its “all-risk” property insurance policy that covered the remodeling work and other losses incurred in the fire.

The Madison Courier reports the justices upheld a 2012 decision by a Scott County judge and a 2014 split decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Both of those rulings favored the contractors.

Topics Contractors