Hassanali Dashtpeyma v. Liberty Insurance Corporation

Filing

Opinion issued by court as to Appellant Hassanali Dashtpeyma. Decision: Affirmed. Opinion type: Non-Published. Opinion method: Per Curiam.

Case: 13-14771

Date Filed: 06/24/2014

Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 13-14771
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 1:11-cv-03809-JEC

HASSANALI DASHTPEYMA,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
LIBERTY MUTUAL GROUP,
Defendant,
LIBERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION,
Defendant-Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(June 24, 2014)

Case: 13-14771

Date Filed: 06/24/2014

Page: 2 of 3

Before MARCUS, WILSON and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Hassanali Dashtpeyma appeals pro se the summary judgment against his
amended complaint that his insurer, Liberty Insurance Corporation, breached its
contract and acted in bad faith by denying his claim for losses to his home and his
personal property. The district court ruled that the losses were excluded from
coverage under Dashtpeyma’s insurance policy. We affirm.
The district court did not err by entering summary judgment in favor of
Liberty Insurance. Under Georgia law, which the parties agree applies, “insurance
is a matter of contract, and the parties to an insurance policy are bound by its plain
and unambiguous terms.” Richards v. Hanover Ins. Co., 299 S.E.2d 561, 563 (Ga.
1983). Dashtpeyma’s policy covered losses to his home “caused by rain, snow,
sleet, sand [and] dust” if the substances entered through “an opening in a roof or
wall” created by “the direct force of wind or hail damages,” but the policy
excluded all losses caused by “[w]ear and tear, marring, [or] deterioration.”
Liberty Insurance submitted photographs; an affidavit and testimony from its
adjuster, James Monaghan; and the depositions of its loss specialist, Ralph Gill,
and of an independent adjuster, Eric Aucoin, that established that Dashtpeyma’s
home was damaged when rain water leaked through rotted wood on window sills

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Case: 13-14771

Date Filed: 06/24/2014

Page: 3 of 3

and pieces of siding. This undisputed evidence proved that Dashtpeyma’s loss was
attributable to the deterioration of materials on the exterior of his home.
No evidence supports Dashtpeyma’s argument that Liberty Insurance
fabricated evidence. Dashtpeyma challenged the authenticity of a letter written by
Gill because it was dated before specific events mentioned in the letter occurred,
but Gill explained that the letter was misdated and contained the correct dates for
the events. Although Dashtpeyma also argues that the damage could not be
blamed on deterioration because Monaghan said there were no visible signs that
the home had been neglected, Monaghan explained that the deterioration was
hidden in the wood. Dashtpeyma failed to present any evidence that Liberty
Insurance contrived a reason to deny coverage. Dashtpeyma acknowledged that he
did not know how to identify rotten wood; he did not know whether his siding had
rotted before the storm; and he was unaware how the water entered his home. No
genuine factual dispute exists whether Dashtpeyma’s loss is excluded from
coverage under the insurance policy.
We AFFIRM the summary judgment in favor of Liberty Insurance.

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