Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance v. Fiber Recovery

1. This appeal concerns a dispute over whether the policy issued by the Local Government Property Fund to Marathon County covers loss resulting from a fire at a facility that had been conveyed by the County to Fiber Recovery, Inc. prior to the fire. The circuit court affirmed the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ) that there was coverage, and the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance and Manager of the Fund appeals.1 The Commissioner contends that Wis. Stat. § 605.02,2 which describes the kinds of property that local governmental units may insure in the Fund, limits coverage to property the unit either owns or has in its care, custody, and control. The Commissioner also contends that the terms of the policy are consistent with this limitation, and that the facility was therefore not covered. 2. We conclude the insurance policy covers the facility-both the building and the personal property inside of it. Although we conclude that Wis. Stat. § 605.02 does not plainly preclude the Fund from providing this coverage, for the reasons explained below we do not resolve the ambiguity in the meaning of the phrase in § 605.02, ""property for which [the local governmental unit] may be liable.""