Insurance Coverage Limited By DBA Designation

A motel operator who agreed to purchase the Masonic Temple in Quincy and convert it into a boutique hotel was not entitled to insurance coverage for fire damage during renovation. The insurance company denied coverage because the policy said Dipika Inc. dba Super 8 was the named insured and the description of its business as a motel. The Massachusetts supreme court upheld the coverage denial.

Why This Is Important…The court said the ordinary understanding of the phrase doing business as Super 8 suggests the policy covers only liability arising from activities undertaken doing business as a Super 8. Even if the phrase doing business as does not create a separate legal entity, that does not preclude it from being used in the ordinary sense to describe the scope of a policy’s coverage