Appeals court says Liberty Mutual need not defend I-35W builders in 130-car pileup suits
The Fifth Circuit ruled Oct. 27 that Liberty Mutual does not owe a defense to North Tarrant Infrastructure, Ferrovial Construction US and Webber in dozens of suits over the 2021 Fort Worth pileup that killed six, because the suits blame road maintenance, not the companies' 2013 to 2018 construction work.
The crash on Feb. 11, 2021, involved 130 vehicles on icy southbound toll lanes of I-35W near Northside Drive. The three contractors had rebuilt that stretch, Segment 3A of the North Tarrant Express, from 2013 through 2018. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. insured them for bodily injury arising out of that work and took on their defense under a reservation of rights. Years into the injury cases, it asked a federal judge in the Northern District of Texas for a declaration that it owed no defense and won summary judgment in March 2025, InsuranceNewsNet reported.
The two-judge panel applied Texas's eight-corners rule, which looks only at the policy and the injured parties' petitions. Those petitions accuse a group of "Roadway Defendants" of failing to run and maintain the highway, get ready for the winter storm and watch road conditions. None says anything done during construction caused the pileup. The contractors had no part in daily maintenance and had finished years before, so the segment was only where the crash happened, the court wrote. It called the policy wording "clunky and poorly drafted" but held that the contractors lose even under their own reading. It also rejected their claim that the policy's 10-year completed-operations window covers any injury on the segment: the injury still has to arise out of their work.
The opinion is unpublished and sets no binding precedent. It decides only the duty to defend. Whether Liberty Mutual must pay any liability the contractors end up with is still open, because the district court found that question not ripe while evidence of construction defects could still surface in the injury suits. Liberty Mutual told InsuranceNewsNet it does not comment on legal matters.
The NTSB blamed ice for drivers losing control and found that the road operator had not adequately monitored or treated the ice, which contributed to the crash. The family of one victim won a $44.1 million Dallas County jury verdict in December 2025 against trucking company New Prime. The contractors were not parties to that verdict.
Why it matters: If you build an asset and later operate or maintain it, your construction policy's completed-operations coverage may not answer maintenance claims. Check that a separate operations liability policy starts when the build phase ends, and read how your policy defines "your work".
Sources
- Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. North Tarrant Infrastructure, L.L.C., No. 25-10725 (unpublished opinion)U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Oct 27
- Liberty Mutual wins ruling on defense in 130-vehicle Texas pileup lawsuitsInsuranceNewsNet, Oct 29
- 130 cars, zero coverage: court rules construction policy stops at maintenanceInsurance Business, Nov 4