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Insurers From Coast to Coast Notch Suit Limitation Victories

Over the last several months, courts in Washington, Kansas, and Virginia have awarded victories to carriers asserting a suit limitation defense, and there are three valuable takeaways from the decisions.  First, the insurer need not demonstrate that it was prejudiced by the failure to file suit within the limitations period; suit limitation provisions are not like notice of loss or proof of loss clauses.  Second, the clock starts running on the suit limitation period when the policyholder has knowledge of the occurrence which ultimately gives rise to his or her loss, not when he or she has knowledge of the cause of that occurrence.  Third, the provision is a contractual limitations period and, as such, not subject to state laws

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Posted in Collapse, Earthquake, Prejudice, Suit Limitation, Water

Kansas Court Sanctions Depreciation of Labor to Determine Actual Cash Value

Two of our previous posts reported that Arkansas and Kentucky courts have now barred insurers from depreciating labor—as opposed to materials—when arriving at actual cash value (ACV).  Last Wednesday in Graves v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2015 WL 4478468, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95127 (D.Kan., Jul. 22, 2015), a federal court in Kansas reached the opposite result in a case of first impression in that state, holding that ACV entails depreciating both materials and labor. A storm damaged the insured’s roof in December 2013, and she made claim under her homeowners policy.  The contract of insurance called for payment on an ACV basis unless the damage had been completely repaired or replaced, and it defined ACV as “[t]he amount

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Posted in Actual Cash Value, Depreciation, Homeowners Coverage, Loss Adjustment, Replacement Cost
About The Property Insurance Law Observer
For more than four decades, Cozen O’Connor has represented all types of property insurers in jurisdictions throughout the United States, and it is dedicated to keeping its clients abreast of developments that impact the insurance industry. The Property Insurance Law Observer will survey court decisions, enacted or proposed legislation, and regulatory activities from all 50 states. We will also include commentary on current issues and developing trends of interest to first-party insurers.
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