Appeals Court Reverses Insurance Ruling

A state appellate court handed California homeowners a victory Wednesday by overturning a lower court order that barred a Concord couple from suing their insurance company.

A lower court had said that Roger and Linda Stanley waited too long to sue Fire Insurance Exchange Co. after it denied their claim. The couple’s homeowner policy had a clause that said a suit must be brought within one year of filing a claim, but the Stanleys waited nearly 2 1/2 years.

The 1st District Court of Appeals, in a 3-0 published decision, reversed the ruling by a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge, saying it was unfair because the insurance company took more than two years to deny the couple’s claim. That made it impossible to comply with the one-year time limit.