RLI Corp. and American International Group Inc. units that learned of a murder and an assault at a Georgia apartment about two years after they occurred are not obligated to provide coverage to the apartment complex and its management company, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday in affirming a lower court ruling.

In December 2015, Adrian Johnson went to visit Marcus Wilder at the East Perimeter Pointe Apartments LP apartment complex in Decatur, Georgia, managed by Boca Raton, Florida-based Ventron Management LLC, according to the ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta in Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. v. East Perimeter Pointe Apartments et al.; Lexington Insurance Co., Ventron Management LLC.

While Mr. Johnson was alone inside Mr. Wilder’s apartment, several assailants broke into the unit and brutally assaulted him.  After visiting Mr. Johnson in the hospital, Mr. Wilder returned to the apartment, where one of the assailants sprang from a bedroom closet and shot him in the head with a handgun. Mr. Wilder died just outside the apartment.

Two state court lawsuits charging the apartment complex and management company with negligence in providing security were later filed, one a wrongful death suit in Mr. Wilder’s case, and the other seeking personal injury damages because of Mr. Johnson’s assault.

RLI Corp. unit Mt. Hawley, which had provided a commercial general liberty insurance policy, and AIG unit Lexington, which had provided a commercial umbrella policy, denied coverage on the basis that Mt. Hawley had not received notice of the incident until 23 months after it happened, while Lexington said it was not notified until 26 months later.

The insurers sought a declaratory judgment that they were not obligated to provide coverage under terms of their policy because of the amount of time that had lapsed.

The U.S. District Court in Atlanta ruled in the insurers’ favor and was affirmed by a three-judge appeals court panel.

The insurers are not obligated to pay under applicable Georgia law, which governs, the ruling said. 

The Mt. Hawley policy had an endorsement and standard policy provision that called for its insured to immediately report an occurrence that could result in a claim, while Lexington “rightfully expected to be notified about those serious incidents,” the ruling said.

The Lexington policy required notice of incidents that could result in its involvement, it said. “We recognize there are times where a notice may not be required” because an event is trivial or inconsequential, the ruling said.

“Murder and brutal assaults, however, are neither trivial nor inconsequential,” it said, in affirming the lower court ruling that neither insurer had a duty to provide a defense or coverage.

Mt. Hawley attorney Kim M. Jackson, a partner with Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin LLC in Atlanta, said in a statement, “The court fully adopted Mt. Hawley’s coverage arguments, and thus it is pleased with the ruling of the 11th Circuit. As this matter remains pending, Mt. Hawley cannot further comment on this matter.”

An East Perimeter attorney had no comment.