Summary judgment denied in breach of contract action against insurer.

Plaintiff’s business involved purchasing hay from local farmers, storing it in three different storage yards, and compressing it and shipping it around the world. Defendant was an insurer that issued plaintiff a commercial output program policy. During the policy period, two fires occurred in February in one of plaintiff’s hay yards, destroying a number of haystacks. A third fire occurred in March at a different hay yard. The insurer denied coverage for nearly all of the hay loss, asserting that plaintiff had breached the “clear space requirements contained in the storage distance warranty” of the baled hay endorsement. The insurer, however, did pay $4,509,849.71 for loss of business personal property, loss of business income, and losses stemming from trans-loading. Plaintiff filed an action against the insurer, asserting claims of breach of contract and breach of duty to indemnify. Finding that there were disputed issues of material fact, the court denied the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the question of plaintiff’s failure to strictly comply with the warranty. The court denied the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment for the same reason. The court also denied the insurer’s motion to strike new evidence, stating that the parties’ (particularly defendant’s) objections were “voluminous, superfluous, and repetitive.” All-Star Seed v. Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance, No. 12cv146L, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44798 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2014).