07-19-07 A-6335-05T2
In this appeal, we determine whether the New Jersey
Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (PLIGA) is
liable for a claim filed by the issuer of a surety bond, which
acted as the guarantor of the performance of a subcontractor in
a school construction project.
We hold that the direct negligence claim asserted by the
surety against the company now insured by PLIGA is a covered
claim under both the policy issued by the insolvent carrier, and
the statute defining what is a compensable, covered claim
against PLIGA. By so doing, we reject PLIGA's argument that the
surety's claim here is analogous to the subrogation claim
asserted by the workers' compensation carrier in Sussman v.
Osterhoff, 232 N.J. Super. 306 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 117
N.J. 143 (1989).
