Strauss v. Chubb Indemnity Ins. Co.

Dist. Ct. did not err in finding that policies of defendants-insurance companies providing coverage for property damage to plaintiffs’ home for period between October 1994 to October 2005 covered water damage to plaintiffs’ home that was discovered in 2010, but had occurred throughout time that said policies had been issued. Dist. Ct. could properly find that “continuous” trigger theory applied, where language of policy provided coverage for “all risk of physical loss” that occurred within policy period, with continuous exposure being considered one occurrence, and where damage initially occurred within relevant time period and continued after each rain until time of discovery. Ct. rejected defendants’ contention that manifestation trigger theory always applied to instant first-party property insurance policies so that policy in effect at time that damage is discovered is applicable policy for providing coverage.