Neufeld

Eva Neufeld made a claim in April 1995 to Balboa Insurance Company for the losses incurred when the roof of her ski lodge collapsed. Balboa denied the claim in June 1995 on the ground that the cause of the losses, the weight of snow on the roof, was not a named peril under Balboa’s named peril policy. (The policy provided for narrower coverage than usual because it had been procured for Neufeld by her lender.) Neufeld requested reconsideration on the theory that the cause of the loss was vandalism, which was a named peril. Balboa rejected that contention in October 1995. Neufeld filed this lawsuit in March 1997 and Balboa successfully moved for summary judgment on the policy’s contractual one-year statute of limitations (often called the “one-year suit provision”). Neufeld then appealed, arguing that a copy of the policy sent to her ex-husband did not contain the standard one-year suit provision.

In the interim, the Court of Appeal decided Spray, Gould & Bowers v. Associated Internal Ins. Co. (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 1260 [ 84 Cal.Rptr.2d 552 ] (Spray, Gould), which, in combination with the regulations of the Insurance Commissioner on which the opinion relies, has pretty…