Collapse Claim Denied After Insured’s Failure to Meet Suit Limitation Deadline
The insured's claim for collapse of a building was denied after failing to file suit within the two-year limitation set forth in the policy. 94 Broad Street, LLC v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., 2025 Conn. Super. LEXIS 112 (Conn. Super. Ct. Jan. 24, 2025).
The insured had a policy with the Hartford for its mixed-use building. The policy had a suit limitation provision which prevented an insured from filing suit two years after the date that direct physical loss or physical damage occurred.
In late 2018, the insured had a sewer back up problem and made repairs. On October 6, 2020, the insured filed a claim with the Hartford. The Hartford assigned a claim file with the dat of loss as December 9, 2018. Around October 6, 2020, the insured informed the Hartford that the rear of its building was collapsing, the collapse was contemporaneous with the sewer line back up, and the insured believed the collapse was caused by the sewer line back up. The Hartford denied coverage on August 18, 2021, due to its engineer's report. The insured's engineer then investigated the collapse and opined that the collapse was caused by the sewer line back up and the soil compacting which weakened the rear of the building. The Hartford still refused to cover the loss.
On September 15, 2022, the insured filed suit against the wrong entity, The Hartford Financial Service Group. On April 21, 2023, the insured commenced an action against the correct entity.
The Hartford filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the suit was filed too late. The Hartford argued the date of loss was late 2018, or December 9, 2018, and the insured did not file suit until after the two years limitation had lapsed on either September 15, 2022 (against the wrong defendant) or April 21, 2023 (against the correct defendant). The insured argued that it did not file the claim until October 6, 2020, and therefore within the two years limitation.
The policy stated that "[n]o one may bring a legal action against us under this insurance unless . . . [t]he action is brought within 2 years after the date on which the direct physical loss or physical damage occurred." Therefore, the plain terms of the policy demonstrated that the provision ran from the date of loss, not when the claim was filed.
It its complaint, the insured alleged that "in late 2018" the building collapse "was contemporaneous with the sewer line backing up . . . was caused by the same event [the sewer back up] . . . and that "the sewer line failure/backup was the proximate cause of the collapse . . ." Further, the Hartford's correspondence with the insured listed the "date of loss" as December 9, 2018. Finally, the insured's engineer claimed that additional sagging had been happening since 2018, not that the sagging started in 2019. Therefore, the date of loss was December 9, 2018. The insured did not comply with the policy's two year suit limitation.
