Skyline Restoration, Inc. v. Church Mut. Ins. Co.

Skyline Restoration, Inc. v. Church Mut. Ins. Co.

Opinion

 [*827]  GREGORY, Chief Judge:

In October 2016, First Baptist Church of Lumberton, North Carolina ("First Baptist"), retained Skyline Restoration, Inc. ("Skyline"), to provide emergency remediation services to address wind damage to First Baptist's real estate. In exchange, Skyline received the right to collect any proceeds from First Baptist's insurance policy with Church Mutual Insurance Company ("Church Mutual"). After Church Mutual partially disputed coverage, Skyline commenced the instant action to recover the value of services provided [**2]  to First Baptist but not paid by Church Mutual. The district court dismissed Skyline's claims, concluding in part that the claims were barred by the applicable North Carolina statute of limitations.

On appeal, Skyline argues that the limitations period began to accrue on the date of breach, but Church Mutual maintains that the limitations period began to accrue on the date of loss. For the reasons below, we find that the applicable statute of limitations is three years from the date of loss, and agree that Skyline's claims for declaratory judgment and breach of contract are time barred because Skyline brought this action in November 2019, more than three years after the time of loss; October 2016. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

On October 7, 2016, the First Baptist Church sustained extensive wind damage from Hurricane Matthew. At the time, Church Mutual provided insurance coverage for First Baptist's real estate, and First Baptist submitted an initial notice of loss and proof of claim to Church Mutual on October 15. Shortly thereafter, on October 18, First Baptist contracted with Skyline to provide emergency remediation and mitigation services in accordance [**3]  with the terms of the insurance policy.¹ On November  [*828]  28, Church Mutual agreed to cover part of the initial claim but disputed coverage for a "dislodged ceiling joist." J.A. 8-9.

After completing the remediation services, Skyline issued invoices to First Baptist for an amount exceeding $75,000 on December 14, 2016. On February 16, 2017, several months after Skyline performed under contract and in response to First Baptist's failure to timely pay for its services, Skyline filed for and perfected a claim of lien against First Baptist for non-payment. On April 4, 2019, First Baptist submitted a second proof of claim to Church Mutual for the services provided by Skyline, "none of which has been paid to date." J.A. 9. Eventually, [**4]  Skyline submitted claims directly to Church Mutual for the amount invoiced under the contract. Church Mutual never responded to Skyline's claims.

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