Every state has frivolous class-action lawsuits which arise from claims made against insurance. No state has seen this occur with greater prevalence than California. This misuse of the principles of insurance is backed up by a whole sewage of so-called experts, and much of the suing began with the construction defect expert.
Experts utilized in California at this time had specialized knowledge about carpet and wood as well as concrete. Specific firms used specific individuals who had perfected a presentation which claimed that the concrete in question was so poorly mixed that their homes would cave in after the concrete crumbled. Ten years was frequently given as the time-frame in which one could expect to see this occur.
These lawsuits were part of a Litigious attack on Lloyds which occurred during the 1990s, following the Northridge earthquake. After this devastating natural disaster, several thousand homeowners went to the original blue-prints of their homes and checked the framing that existed with what had been promised on the original schematics. With the aid of some experts on drafting and architecture, a jury was shown how only 25% of promised structural reinforcement had actually been performed.
In many cases, nearly 75% of all structures built by certain companies had utilized a program of nailing only one nail out of every five promised on the blue-print. This was so consistent that a jury accepted it as an intentional business practice. Many large settlements were awarded, and several hundred structures were either reworked or completely torn down due to structural integrity problems.
The Northridge Quake initiated a frenzy of suing unprecedented in the history of California litigation. With the courts in this region being notorious for outlandish settlements on cases most Judges would refer to as nuisance suits, homeowners and attorneys alike took advantage. If there were no signs of shoddy work on the framing, then experts were brought in to testify on carpet and concrete.
If the integrity of framing could not be brought to question, the integrity of carpet and linoleum was. With settlements averaging only around $10,000.00, counsel representing the homeowners went hunting for a more lucrative angle. They found their golden tuna when they discovered PhD-qualified professors with some technical knowledge on concrete, along with some theories about how it can fail within decades if poorly mixed materials are used on a fault line.
Fast-forward twenty years, to now, and we see that the settlements paid were not utilized to jack up the homes and pour new slabs underneath. These settlement funds were used to pay off mortgages, buy cars, put children into college rooms, or fund surgical procedures which maintain the youthful appearance of a household matriarch. Many outrageous vacations were funded by the policy limits of Lloyds underwriters.
The loophole within the contract allowed for suits to be brought under the completed operations coverage. Construction defects were denied under any liability policy underwritten for general contractors in this region. Just as homeowners insurance cannot spread the risk far enough to cover earthquake damage, general liability policies cannot cover contractors for construction defects in an area where land movement can manifest defects overnight.
Experts utilized in California at this time had specialized knowledge about carpet and wood as well as concrete. Specific firms used specific individuals who had perfected a presentation which claimed that the concrete in question was so poorly mixed that their homes would cave in after the concrete crumbled. Ten years was frequently given as the time-frame in which one could expect to see this occur.
These lawsuits were part of a Litigious attack on Lloyds which occurred during the 1990s, following the Northridge earthquake. After this devastating natural disaster, several thousand homeowners went to the original blue-prints of their homes and checked the framing that existed with what had been promised on the original schematics. With the aid of some experts on drafting and architecture, a jury was shown how only 25% of promised structural reinforcement had actually been performed.
In many cases, nearly 75% of all structures built by certain companies had utilized a program of nailing only one nail out of every five promised on the blue-print. This was so consistent that a jury accepted it as an intentional business practice. Many large settlements were awarded, and several hundred structures were either reworked or completely torn down due to structural integrity problems.
The Northridge Quake initiated a frenzy of suing unprecedented in the history of California litigation. With the courts in this region being notorious for outlandish settlements on cases most Judges would refer to as nuisance suits, homeowners and attorneys alike took advantage. If there were no signs of shoddy work on the framing, then experts were brought in to testify on carpet and concrete.
If the integrity of framing could not be brought to question, the integrity of carpet and linoleum was. With settlements averaging only around $10,000.00, counsel representing the homeowners went hunting for a more lucrative angle. They found their golden tuna when they discovered PhD-qualified professors with some technical knowledge on concrete, along with some theories about how it can fail within decades if poorly mixed materials are used on a fault line.
Fast-forward twenty years, to now, and we see that the settlements paid were not utilized to jack up the homes and pour new slabs underneath. These settlement funds were used to pay off mortgages, buy cars, put children into college rooms, or fund surgical procedures which maintain the youthful appearance of a household matriarch. Many outrageous vacations were funded by the policy limits of Lloyds underwriters.
The loophole within the contract allowed for suits to be brought under the completed operations coverage. Construction defects were denied under any liability policy underwritten for general contractors in this region. Just as homeowners insurance cannot spread the risk far enough to cover earthquake damage, general liability policies cannot cover contractors for construction defects in an area where land movement can manifest defects overnight.
About the Author:
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