San Jose Crane & Rigging, Inc. v. Lexington Insurance

Plaintiff insureds appeal from a judgment entered after the court granted defendant insurer’s motion for summary judgment. The sole issue on appeal is whether plaintiffs’ suit is barred by the one-year limitation clause contained in the parties’ insurance policy. We conclude that it is not.

In Prudential-LMI Com. Insurance v. Superior Court (1990) 51 Cal.3d 674 [ 274 Cal.Rptr. 387 , 798 P.2d 1230 ], the Supreme Court held that in a first party progressive loss claim in the context of a homeowner’s insurance policy the one-year limitation period should be tolled from the date insured gives notice of the loss until the time insurer formally denies coverage. For reasons we shall explain, we believe this same rule should apply in the context of a first party claim in a commercial all-risk insurance policy. Defendant concedes that plaintiffs’ action is timely if the Prudential-LMI doctrine of equitable tolling applies, but argues that the doctrine “should be applied prospectively only to claims submitted to the insurer on or after the date of that decision.” As we shall explain, we disagree.

Irrespective of the equitable tolling issue, however, this case was not an…