MT. HAWLEY INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff—Counter Defendant—Appellee, versus EAST PERIMETER POINTE APARTMENTS, Defendant—Third Party Plaintiff—Counter Claimant—Appellant, MIRANDA WILDER, CONSTANCE IRIONS, ADRIAN JOHNSON, Defendants—Appellants, LEXINGTON INSURANCE COMPANY, Third Party Defendant—Appellee, VENTRON MANAGEMENT, LLC, Defendant—Third Party Defendant—Counter Claimant—Appellant., 861 Fed. Appx. 270

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-Insureds were properly denied coverage for an assault and murder at an apartment complex because the insureds' two year delay in notifying their insurers about the occurrences barred coverage as a matter of Georgia common law; [2]-Both policies required that the insureds notify the insurers of an occurrence as soon as practicable, but the insureds did not notify the insurers until almost two years after the occurrences; [3]-Under Georgia law, which applied under governing choice-of-law rules, when an insurance policy included a notice requirement as a condition precedent to coverage, the insurer was not obligated to provide a defense or coverage if the insured unreasonably failed to timely comply with the notice requirements; [4]-As the prolonged delays were unreasonable as a matter of law, the insurers did not have a duty to provide a defense or coverage to the insureds.