Harrah's Atlantic City, Inc. v. Harleysville Ins. Co

In Harrah's Atlantic City, Inc. v. Harleysville Ins. Co., 288 N.J. Super. 152, 671 A.2d 1122 (1996) the issue was whether the insurer was required to defend and indemnify the landlord/owner in a personal injury suit brought against it by a patron and an employee of a tenant in the building. Id. at 1123. The injured parties were struck by an automobile driven by one of the landlord/owner's parking valets as they crossed the street in front of the building. Id. The lease in Harrah's Atlantic City, Inc. required the tenant to purchase liability insurance "in the name of and for the benefit of" the landlord/owner and the tenant. Id. The lease also included an indemnification provision. Id. When the tenant did not respond to the landlord/owner's request for indemnification and a defense, it filed a third-party complaint seeking indemnification under the lease. The endorsement at issue provided coverage for the landlord/tenant as an additional insured "only with respect to liability arising out of the use of that part of the premises leased to tenant and shown in the Schedule." Id. at 1124. The court held that the insurer owed the landlord/owner both a defense and indemnification. Id. The court reasoned that the language "arising out of" the leased premises has been interpreted broadly to mean "originating from the use of or growing out of the use of the leased premises," and by using such language an "insurer necessarily understands that it is providing coverage to the landlord against accidents occurring outside of the leased premises." Id. The court further reasoned that "an insurer would expect to provide coverage to a landlord under such an endorsement where there is a substantial nexus between the occurrence and the use of the leased premises." Id. at 1125.