California Court of Appeal

In this insurance coverage dispute, three days after the building policy became effective (covering loss from property damage, including rent), the property had sustained serious damage from burglars. At trial, the jury awarded plaintiff the full cost of repairing the damaged property despite the fact that plaintiff had not repaired the damage, and further awarded lost business income but not lost rent. Judgment notwithstanding the verdict finding that neither of the awards was permitted under the policy is reversed, where: 1) plaintiff is entitled to a conditional judgment awarding repair costs if the repairs are actually made; 2) the lost business income award is properly construed as an award for compensable lost rent; and 3) there are insufficient grounds to proceed with a new trial.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/24/2014
• Published 11/24/2014

Judges

• Humes

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel