General Insurance Company of America, a Corporation, and the London Assurance, a Corporation v. Harold Lapidus and Florence Lapidus, Husband and Wife

The Lapiduses have a frame stucco' house built about 1954 on a hillside in the Los Angeles area. Due to movement of the soil in the dirt fill on which the house rests, the house is cracking up badly.

The trial court has found the cost of repairing the house to be $30,000.00 and the cost of stabilizing the land under the house to be $10,100.00. Judgment has been entered severally against both General and London for the identical sums of $18,610.00, or a total of $37,220.00.

General wrote the first policy in the amount of $45,000 on February 16, 1956, which it cancelled late in December, 1957. London wrote its policy on December 17, 1957, for the Lapiduses in a like amount of $45,000. Both policies were so-called fire policies, but today almost all fire policies have some “comprehensive coverage” for hazards other than fire.

Generally, it can be said the policies covered damages to the house and its appendages caused by reason of a landslide but not from settling or subsidence. General’s policy said:

In particular, London’s policy said:

So, in sum, if damage was caused by normal settling each policy excluded the loss. But if the woeful condition of the house was caused by…