{"id":898928,"date":"2021-07-13T16:01:44","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T22:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=898928"},"modified":"2021-07-13T16:01:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T22:01:48","slug":"dispute-resolution-when-claim-occurred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/dispute-resolution-when-claim-occurred\/","title":{"rendered":"California Court Rules Jury Must Resolve Dispute Between Homeowner And Subcontractor Insurer Over When Claim Occurred"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Blake Robinson | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mondaq.com\/unitedstates\/insurance-laws-and-products\/1088762\/california-court-rules-jury-must-resolve-dispute-between-homeowner-and-subcontractor-insurer-over-when-claim-occurred?email_access=on\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Davis Wright Tremaine<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The California Court of Appeal recently reversed a trial court&#8217;s dismissal of a lawsuit, concluding that because there was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-disputes-usa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dispute<\/a> over when a homeowner&#8217;s claim &#8220;occurred&#8221; for purposes of an insurance policy, that dispute must be resolved by a jury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Case Background<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Guastello v. AIG Specialty Insurance Co.<\/em><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mondaq.com\/unitedstates\/insurance-laws-and-products\/1088762\/california-court-rules-jury-must-resolve-dispute-between-homeowner-and-subcontractor-insurer-over-when-claim-occurred?email_access=on#footnote1\">1<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;involved a dispute over whether a claim was covered by an insurance policy. The events in question began in 2003 and 2004, when a subcontractor built retaining walls in a housing development. Several years later, the plaintiff purchased a home in the development. Fast forward to 2010, when one of the retaining walls close to the plaintiff&#8217;s lot failed and caused significant damage to the plaintiff&#8217;s backyard perimeter wall, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plaintiff obtained a default judgment of over $700,000 against the subcontractor. The plaintiff then filed a lawsuit against the subcontractor&#8217;s insurer, seeking payment on the judgment. The insurer filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking dismissal on the ground that the subcontractor only had a policy with the insurer in 2003 and 2004, but the property damage occurred in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the motion, the plaintiff filed a declaration in which a geotechnical engineer stated that the retaining wall failed due to the subcontractor&#8217;s negligent construction. Significantly, the engineer stated that the damage to the retaining wall and surrounding area began within months of the construction&#8217;s completion, including through &#8220;continuous and progressive destabilization&#8221; of the area. The insurer, on the other hand, submitted evidence that no damage occurred until the retaining wall failed in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, the trial court sided with the insurer, and the plaintiff subsequently filed an appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Occurrence vs. Claims-Made<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The appeals court noted that the subcontractor had an occurrence policy, which &#8220;provides coverage for damages that occur during the policy period, even if the claim is made after the policy has expired,&#8221; as opposed to a &#8220;claims-made&#8221; policy\u2014which &#8220;provides coverage only if the claim is made during the policy period.&#8221; Accordingly, the key question was whether the damage that the plaintiff suffered occurred during the 2003-2004 policy period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In answering that question, the appeals court relied on the &#8220;settled rule&#8221; that &#8220;when continuous or progressively deteriorating damage or injury first manifests itself, the insurer remains obligated to indemnify the insured for the entirety of the ensuing damage or injury.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, the court concluded that\u2014based on the expert declaration\u2014there was evidence from which a jury could find that the damage began occurring shortly after the retaining wall&#8217;s completion in 2003. Therefore, the Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiff&#8217;s claim on summary judgment, and the case was sent back to the trial court so a jury could resolve the disputed issue of when the damage began to occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons in Insurance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As this case illustrates, both owners and contractors should be aware of the types of insurance policies that they and those with whom they contract have. Whether it is a claims-made or occurrence policy can sometimes make the difference between whether a claim is covered or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Footnote<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a>1.<\/a>&nbsp;61 Cal.App.5th 97, 275 Cal.Rptr.3d 370 (2021)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blake Robinson | Davis Wright Tremaine The California Court of Appeal recently reversed a trial court&#8217;s dismissal of a lawsuit, concluding that because there was a dispute over when a homeowner&#8217;s claim &#8220;occurred&#8221; for purposes of an insurance policy, that dispute must be resolved by a jury. Case Background Guastello v. AIG Specialty Insurance Co.1&nbsp;involved&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/dispute-resolution-when-claim-occurred\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">California Court Rules Jury Must Resolve Dispute Between Homeowner And Subcontractor Insurer Over When Claim Occurred<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[9895,204,6198,345],"class_list":["post-898928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-disputes","tag-insurance-policy","tag-jury-trial","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>California Court Rules Jury Must Resolve Dispute Between Homeowner And Subcontractor Insurer Over When Claim Occurred - Advise &amp; 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