Insurer Denied Summary Judgment on Earth Movement Exclusion Issue in Superstorm Sandy Case

CAMDEN, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge has denied an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of whether Superstorm Sandy-related flood damage falls within a policy’s “earth movement exclusion,” finding the damage may have been caused by erosion, which is a covered cause of loss.

In an Oct. 10 order, Judge Robert B. Kugler of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey noted that the plaintiffs’ expert attributed soil washout and undermining beneath the property’s foundations to Superstorm Sandy.

Harry and Bonnie Elwell’s Waretown, N.J., property sustained flood damage during Superstorm Sandy on …