Richard M. Riffe and Brenda J. (hoit) Riffe, Plaintiffs Below, Appellants v. Home Finders Associates, Inc., a West…

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment for Home Security of America in a suit by home buyers whose 'home warranty contract' claim for foundation repairs was denied as a pre-existing condition. The court held that the third-party home warranty plan was an insurance contract under W. Va. Code §§ 33-1-1 and 33-1-16 because a party that neither manufactures nor sells the home agreed to indemnify buyers for defects, entitling the Riffes to the protections West Virginia law affords insurance purchasers. Genuine issues of material fact as to which policy language was presented before the contract was formed, the ambiguity of the pre-existing-condition exclusion, conflicts with promotional materials, and the soliciting agent's representations precluded summary judgment. The court further held that the real estate agent who sold the plan was the insurer's agent as a matter of law under W. Va. Code § 33-12-23.