On July 28, 1993, high winds and severe storms struck northeastern Ohio, causing power outages and food spoilage at the insureds' grocery stores. The insureds, Mapletown Foods and Noble Bi-Rite, owned businessowners special property coverage from Motorists Insurance. Noble Bi-Rite's policy included a special spoilage endorsement with limits of $15,000.

The special property coverage form contained the following exclusions:

"B. 1. We will not pay for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by any of the following. Such loss or damage is excluded regardless of any other cause or event that contributes concurrently or in any sequence to the loss . . . . The failure of power or other utility service supplied to the described premises, however caused, if the failure occurs away from the described premises. But if loss or damage by a covered cause of loss results, we will pay for that resulting loss or damage."

Noble Bi-Rite received the limit of $15,000 provided by its spoilage endorsement, but both insureds sought to recover the losses from spoilage and contended that coverage was due because the exclusion's wording was ambiguous.

The trial court, in finding for Motorists, said:

"The losses . . . resulted directly from the power outages. The power outages were caused by tripped breakers at the stores' respective substations. Thus, the power loss occurred unquestionably away from the stores' premises and was not caused by a covered cause of loss." In addition, the court pointed out that the insureds were aware that separate spoilage insurance was available.

On appeal, the court concurred in the trial court's analysis of policy, and the judgment entered in the lower court in favor of the company was affirmed.

Mapletown Foods, Inc. et al, Appellants v. Motorists Mutual Insurance Company--No. 68158--Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County--June 5, 1995--662 North Eastern Reporter 2d 48.