Quake Damage Case Sent to State High Court

A federal appeals court on Monday asked the California Supreme Court to settle a legal question that has left many homeowners unable to obtain reimbursement for damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Attorneys for the homeowners say thousands of people discovered quake damage to their homes after the one-year deadline for filing claims with their insurers.

Various courts have reached conflicting decisions on whether claimants are entitled to reimbursement for damage that was not discovered until after the filing deadline.

The court’s request was based on an appeal by a Northridge man, Peter Yu, who relied on his insurer’s inspector who found only minimal damage to his property, said Glenn R. Kantor, Yu’s attorney. But a private inspection more than a year after the earthquake revealed almost $350,000 in damage to the property, Kantor said.

Because of the huge number of properties damaged, insurance companies brought in adjusters from around the country, many of whom were unfamiliar with earthquake damage, Kantor said. Hundreds of homeowners did not learn until after the one-year deadline that the damage was much more extensive than originally thought, he said.

A U.S. District Court judge upheld the denial of Yu’s claim by Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance Co. However, in other cases, courts have ruled in favor of claimants.

Presiding Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals now wants the state high court to clarify the issue. If the state court declines to answer the question, Kozinski said the circuit panel will resolve the issue “according to our own understanding of California law, misguided though it be.”