In re: Northridge Earthquake Insurance Litigation
The Quisenberry Law Firm has recovered over $100 million from all of the major insurance carriers including Farmers, State Farm, Allstate and 21st Century, on behalf thousands of individuals and homeowner associations whose homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The firm was also instrumental in having legislation enacted to help the victims of the Northridge earthquake, and then defended the legislation against the insurance industry’s attacks after it went into effect. See 20th Century Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (Ahles), 90 Cal.App.4th 1247 (2001) and Bialo v. Western Mut. Ins. Co., 95 Cal.App.4th 68 (2002).
To show the range of earthquake cases in which we were involved, below are details on seven of the cases that we handled.
- Robbins v. Farmers Home Group - Mr. Quisenberry, representing Leon and Mittie Robbins, homeowners in South Central Los Angeles, secured a $7.8 million jury verdict, the single largest punitive damages award arising out of the Northridge earthquake. At trial, the evidence showed that the insurer systematically low-balled damage estimates of the homes in the Robbins' neighborhood, so that the cost to repair the earthquake damage always fell within the policy deductible.
- Altman et al. v. Fire Ins. Exch. - The Altmans and forty-eight other families sued Farmers Insurance for failing to pay them their full insurance benefits after their homes were damaged or destroyed by the Northridge earthquake. Farmers refused to fully compensate them for their damage, claiming its insurance policies did not provide coverage for costs associated with changes to the building codes enacted in response to earthquake disasters in California. The firm successfully challenged Farmers’ narrow interpretation of its insurance policy in Fire Ins. Exch. v. Superior Court (Altman), 116 Cal.App.4th 446 (2004). After the favorable opinion, the firm was able to successfully settle the families’ claims for full compensation.
- Scenic Hills Homeowners Association v. Farmers Group, Inc. - On behalf of Scenic Hills Homeowners Association, a 250-unit homeowners association in Santa Clarita, we recovered a confidential settlement for extensive earthquake damage. The settlement was notable because of the overall size of the property, because each of the units was an individual home requiring a significant effort by expert geotechnical engineers and structural engineers to fully inspect and investigate the amount of earthquake damage suffered by the homeowners.
- McKeon v. Allstate Insurance Company - The McKeons asked us to represent them in their case against Allstate for failing to compensate them for damage to their residence. The McKeons owned a large home in Canyon Country that suffered extensive damage in the Northridge earthquake. The case was heard in federal court before Judge Andrew Hauk in the Central District of California. After several favorable rulings by Judge Hauk, Allstate settled the case favorably for the McKeons.
- Brown v. 21st Century Insurance Company - The Quisenberry Law Firm represented Ms. Brown and over a hundred other families in their earthquake cases against 21st Century. Each of these cases involved a single family home. The homes were located across Los Angeles county including the Santa Clarita area, the entire San Fernando Valley, Inglewood, Hollywood, West Los Angeles and the areas around downtown. The firm was able to successfully settle each claim.
- Tara Hills Homeowners Association v. Scottsdale Insurance Company - As a result of our representation, Tara Hills received a jury verdict of $7 million to repair earthquake damage covered by an insurance policy issued by Scottsdale Insurance Company. Additionally, the jury found that Scottsdale had acted with fraud, oppression and malice in its adjustment of Tara Hills’ earthquake claim. Before the jury could award punitive damages, the case settled.
- Diaz v. Allstate Insurance Company - Bill and Lydia Diaz owned a home in Northridge, California, a few miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. The residence was completely destroyed by the earthquake. The Diaz home was insured by Allstate Ins. Co., who refused to pay the claim, alleging that Bill Diaz had misrepresented his loss. Following a lengthy trial, the jury disagreed with Allstate and awarded $1,000,000 in damages to Bill and Lydia.
