![]() ![]() Apatow was insured under a Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP), the terms of which are set by Congress under the National Flood Insurance Program. Apatow’s home was damaged by storm surge on October 12, 2014. ![]() of Florida, a federal district judge in California found that movie director Judd Apatow failed to timely file suit for flood damage to his beachfront home in Malibu, California. Because the developer waited almost another full year before filing suit, the suit was time barred. As the court found, however, because the developer waited six months before giving notice of the damage, six months of the suit limitations period accrued, leaving the developer only six additional months to file suit after the denial. The developer then filed suit against Allianz one day before the anniversary of the denial in January 2013. Under Nevada law, the suit limitations period was “tolled” from the date of notice until the date Allianz denied coverage, which occurred in January 2012. ![]() The developer learned of the damage (scratches on more than 5000 windows installed in the high rise condominium tower) in October 2007, and provided notice to Allianz in April 2008. The policy contained a suit limitation provision requiring that suit be filed within 12 months of discovery of the damage. The court found the developer’s suit for coverage to be untimely under the developer’s builders’ risk insurance policy. Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Company, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Nevada district court’s ruling that Allianz is not required to cover a $5 million loss stemming from damage to the windows of a luxury condominium tower in Las Vegas. ![]() These decisions serve as sharp reminders that policyholders must not only read their insurance policies, but they must understand how they work and, most importantly, calendar critical dates and time periods. In both instances, federal courts rejected policyholders’ attempts to obtain coverage for plainly covered losses simply because they failed to follow their policies and filed their lawsuits after the proscribed cutoff. Two decisions issued on December 21, 2016, drive home the critical significance that policy-based “suit limitations” provisions can have on an insurance claim. ![]()
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