Daniel Gates d/b/a Furniture World v. State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company and Walter Wallace

This case involves business interruption insurance. The furniture store owned by the plaintiff typically sells furniture under “rent to own” payment plans, whereby customers purchase the furniture through payments over time. The furniture store was damaged by a tornado. As a result, the store was closed for eight months for repairs. The plaintiff store owner had a business interruption insurance policy with the defendant insurance company that covered the loss of business income during the time in which the store was closed for restoration. The store owner sued the insurance company for the loss of business income it would have received during the eight-month period of restoration. Cross-motions for partial summary judgment were filed regarding how to measure the loss of income. The store owner claimed he was entitled to the entire value of sales contracts that would have been signed during the period of closure, even though most of the payments under those contracts would be due after the eight-month restoration period. The insurance company, on the other hand, claimed that the store owner was entitled only to the value of payments that actually would have been received by the store during the eight-month restoration period. The trial court granted partial summary judgment to the store owner, finding that the store owner was entitled to the entire value of the contracts that would have been signed during the restoration period. The insurance company was granted permission to file this interlocutory appeal.
We affirm.