Tag archives: insurance policies

Life and Business Interrupted – by COVID and Other Unusual Circumstances
By Jerold Oshinsky   |   April 30, 2020

I am pleased to share joint authorship today with my good friend, Attorney Jan Larson. Coincidentally, she and her husband, Rock Rockenbach, soon will be moving back to Montecito. Jan and I both represent policy holders against insurance companies. In this article, we discuss how first party property insurance policies should be examined to determine […]

Troubled Waters: Surface Water Law and the Montecito Floods
By Steven A. Blum   |   February 8, 2018

In last week’s issue of The Montecito Journal, I explained that if the facts show a fire, covered by a typical homeowners’ insurance policy, was the “efficient proximate cause” of a later mudslide, then mudslide damage could be covered under a homeowners’ insurance policy. On January 29, California insurance commissioner Dave Jones adopted the same […]

Business Interruption Insurance – Recovering it All
By Matthew Bourhis   |   February 8, 2018

Jeannine’s is my favorite breakfast spot in Montecito. Grab a coffee, have a seat outside, and do a little people-watching while you wait for pancakes. It makes for a delightful morning. That’s why it’s upsetting to me, and many others, that Jeannine’s may be facing some tough insurance challenges due to the recent debris flow. […]

Insurance Policies Cover the “Efficient Proximate Cause” of Property Damage
By Matthew Bourhis   |   February 1, 2018

A week ago, law professor Kenneth Klein wrote a Los Angeles Times op-ed saying that Montecito residents should not expect their homeowners insurance to cover flood and mudslide damage. He argued that policy exclusions likely preclude recovery. I challenged that assertion in a letter to the editor, arguing that where there are multiple, different causes […]

What’s Your Shoe Size? One Size Won’t Fit All Feet: Class Actions, Insurance, And Topography
By Steven A. Blum   |   February 1, 2018

Chris Wilkinson and his son, Kai, filled their truck with emergency supplies and radio equipment. They are members of the Montecito Emergency Response and Recovery Action Group known as MERRAG. It was January 8. KEYT had warned of heavy rainfall. As a third-generation Montecitoan who has lived in the same Glen Oaks home since 1963, […]