Updated October 22, 2026 You own a mixed-use building in Brooklyn. You hired a general contractor to repoint the facade, collected a certificate of insurance, and filed it away. Then a subcontractor's worker fell from a scaffold, got seriously hurt, and sued you, not his employer. You sent the lawsuit to your own insurance company and expected a defense. Instead, you got a letter saying your policy excludes exactly this kind of claim. That letter is the action-over exclusion