D.W. Avionics v. U.S. Specialty Insurance Company

Date: 11-07-2025

Case Number: 320 Neb. 287

Judge: Shelly R. Stratman

Court: District Court, Douglas County, Nebraska

Plaintiff's Attorney:

Defendant's Attorney:

Description: Omaha, Nebraska insurance law lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a bad faith breach of insurance contract theory.

D S Avionics Unlimited LLC (DSA) had an insurance policy issued by U.S. Specialty Insurance Company (USSIC)
that covered the “direct physical loss” of DSA’s aircraft.

1. Summary Judgment: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews
the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the
record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and drawing
all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor.

2. ____: ____. An appellate court will affirm a lower court’s grant of sum -
mary judgment if the pleadings and admitted evidence show that there is
no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences
that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled
to judgment as a matter of law.

3. Insurance: Contracts: Appeal and Error. The interpretation of an
insurance policy is a question of law, in connection with which an appel -
late court has an obligation to reach its own conclusions independently
of the determination made by the lower court.

4. Insurance: Contracts: Intent. An insurance policy is a contract and is
to be construed as any other contract to give effect to the parties’ inten -
tions at the time the contract was made.

5. Insurance: Contracts. In construing insurance policy provisions, a
court must determine from the clear language of the policy whether the
insurer in fact insured against the risk involved.

6. ____: ____. The language of an insurance policy should be read to avoid
ambiguities, if possible, and the language should not be tortured to cre -
ate them.

7. ____: ____. An all perils policy impliedly covers all risks except those
expressly addressed in the policy’s exclusion paragraphs.

8. Appeal and Error. An appellate court is not obligated to engage in

Outcome: The district court for Douglas County, Nebraska, found that DSA’s claim was not covered and ruled in favor of USSIC and against DSA on related matters.

Reversed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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