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142234P.pdf 08/20/2015 St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. v. Abhe & Svoboda, Inc.
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 14-2234
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Wollman and Beam, Circuit Judges]
Civil Case - diversity. District court's grant of summary judgment to
insurer, concluding the insurance policy was void ab initio because
insured breached its duty of good faith under the doctrine of uberrimae
fidei, is reversed. The showing of actual reliance and objective
materiality are necessary elements to void an insurance policy under the
doctrine of uberrimae fidei. Because there were genuine issues of material
fact as to whether the insurer relied of the insured's failure to disclose
information about the lack of watertight bulkheads and the value of the
vessel, the grant of summary judgment is reversed.