Homeowner Wins $65,000 for Quake Damage Claims

A Los Angeles jury Wednesday awarded a North Hills woman $65,000 after finding 20th Century Insurance guilty of breach of contract and bad faith in its handling of the earthquake damage claim on her home.

Renee Zabel, who has lived in her home for 34 years, filed a damage claim shortly after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. 20th Century sent a claims adjuster who inspected Zabel’s home and, after allowing for deductibles in her policy, paid her about $13,000 to cover damages.

More than a year later, Zabel suspected that damage to her property had been overlooked, including damage to a chimney and garage, so she filed a supplemental claim.

Her home was reinspected, and the second adjuster told her the company had missed a lot of damage in the earlier inspection, Zabel said. But 20th Century refused to pay her new claim, citing a one-year statute of limitations provision in her policy. She then sued the company.

David Prestholt, an attorney for Zabel, said, “We did not get the punitive damage award. But what is wonderful, the jury has found that 20th Century’s [time limit] argument is wrong.”

Ric Hill, a 20th Century spokesman, disagreed, and said that another quake damage case, similar to Zabel’s, had been thrown out of court by a judge only last week.

“We still believe we’re correct on the [time] provision,” Hill said.

Zabel said the $65,000 won’t cover all her repairs, and that she was disappointed that the jury did not award punitive damages.