Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: Contractor Liability Insurance

He was doing the work during the time that he was covered under insurance and that work was done incorrectly. The later damages were a direct result of work completely in a negligent manner. From this analysis, you can claim against the insurance. Insurance companies, from my varied experience, are often the best and most reasonable sources of recovery or the biggest pain in the tuckus imaginable. I'd be prepared for either response and have a local attorney help you with the demand so you can do it right from the get-go.

Re: Contractor Liability Insurance

You should have some options. I cannot know for sure until I hear more facts.

Please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

IMPORTANT:

No attorney-client nor confidential relationship is created through this communication. You may not rely in any way on this communication, and nothing herein constitutes legal advice nor legal opinion. Your issue may be time sensitive and may result in loss of rights if you do not obtain an attorney immediately.

Re: Contractor Liability Insurance

To be honest with you, Attorney Cowin's response needs a little supplement. Although the contractor may have been insured at the time of the incident (the defective construction), you face a couple of hurdles. First, you may have a statute of limitations problem - you have two years from the date of discovery, or the date by which a reasonable person would have discovered the defect. You say you discovered the problems in late November 2006, so you need to retain an attorney and file suit immediately or you risk losing the ability to pursue your claims against the contractor due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Second problem you face is that many insurance policies are written on a "claims made" basis, meaning that the insurance company will only cover claims made during the life of the policy. As the contractor obviously did not submit a claim to his carrier prior to letting the insurance go, you may be out of luck. Also, if he only had insurance until May of 2005, but you say he didn't walk off the job juntil July 2006, its fairly unlikely that the actual work which you are now claiming was defective was actually done while he was insured. You will have to review all of the facts with an attorney, and irrespective of whether or not he has insurance coverage, you should get your suit on file as soon as possible given that you may have already blown the statute of limitations on your claims. Good luck with this - we always hate to hear about bad contractors.

*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided is general and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.

Re: Contractor Liability Insurance

I agree that the Statute of Limitations will be sigfnificant in your case. In our experience, although many contractors carry claims made policies, some carry occurrence based policies which cover contractors for work performed over a specific time period. A sneaky provision in these policies is called a burning limits clause meaning the more they spend on defense fees, the less the cap on the recovery. Ultimately, you will need an attorney to review your case in detail. More than likely, you will not get the answers to any of the policy questions you have unless and until you file a lawsuit. Contact a construction attorney as soon as possible. If you are serious about representation, feel free to call our office.

Best of Luck!

www.SoCalConstructionLaw.com