Brendan Ross and Lizzie Jedrasek Secure Summary Judgment for Insurer Based on Late Notice of Occurrence

This week, Brendan Ross and Lizzie Jedrasek obtained summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action involving two personal injury lawsuits arising from a second-story deck collapse at a rental property. The court held that our client had no duty to defend or indemnify the insured property management company due to the insured’s failure to provide timely notice of the “occurrence.”

The policy required the insured to provide notice of an “occurrence” “as soon as practicable” and notice of any lawsuits “immediately.” Here, the insured did not report the occurrence or the lawsuits to our client until 16 months after the collapse and more than seven months after the lawsuits had been filed. The insured argued that it had informed its insurance agent shortly after it was served with the lawsuits, and that notice to the agent constituted notice to the insurer. The insured also brought third-party claims against the agent for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

Although the full 16-month delay would have been a stronger basis for summary judgment, pursuing that argument would have required litigating complex agency issues and third-party claims. To streamline the case and avoid unnecessary discovery, Brendan and Lizzie made the strategic decision to file a motion solely on the nine-month delay in reporting the occurrence—conceding, for purposes of the motion, that the insurer received timely notice of the lawsuits.

The strategy paid off. The court found the delay in reporting the occurrence unreasonable and a breach of the policy’s notice provision. It rejected the insured’s claim that it lacked sophistication, noting that the insured had immediate knowledge of serious injuries, prior experience handling insurance claims, and access to both legal counsel and an insurance agent. The court concluded there was no legitimate excuse for the delay and held that no reasonable person would interpret “as soon as practicable” to mean waiting nine months.

This was an excellent result for our insurer client. The ruling avoids defense and indemnity obligations in two likely policy-limits cases and eliminates the need for further litigation on agency and third-party liability issues. LPP congratulates Brendan and Lizzie on this outcome.