California has earned their reputation for outlandish settlements on nonsense litigation very honestly. They are the darling child of property casualty claims against insurance companies who become litigious when a law firm encourages homeowners to get together and sue under four policy terms for each suit brought. These became a cash-cow for attorneys in California who had big brass ones and called in a construction defect expert to make a case.
The primary experts utilized in this had specialized knowledge about framing, carpet, wood, and concrete. Specific firms utilized the concrete experts most often because the claims made resulted in some astronomical settlements for the insureds as well as their legal representatives. Neither the judges nor the juries were able to refute statements made as to the physical make-up of the concrete, which they claimed would crumble to dust within a decade.
These lawsuits were part of a Litigious attack on Lloyds which occurred during the 1990s, following the Northridge earthquake. After this devastating natural disaster, several thousand homeowners went to the original blue-prints of their homes and checked the framing that existed with what had been promised on the original schematics. With the aid of some experts on drafting and architecture, a jury was shown how only 25% of promised structural reinforcement had actually been performed.
This means that where the blue-print showed 100 nails or screws should have been present on a particular part of the framework, only 25 nails or screws were holding it in place. The companies who constructed these homes were guilty of cutting corners with such consistency that it could not be an accident. On average, about 75% of the homes built by certain contractors had followed this model.
The Northridge Earthquake initiated this cycle of class-action lawsuits brought by homeowners in the state. At this point, firms moved in like carpetbaggers, going door-to-door in many communities in order to organize class-action suits. If they could not prove that shoddy work was performed on the structure through framing schematics, then they went to the chemistry involved in laying the groundwork for structures in the area.
If the integrity of framing could not be brought to question, the integrity of carpet and linoleum was. With settlements averaging only around $10,000.00, counsel representing the homeowners went hunting for a more lucrative angle. They found their golden tuna when they discovered PhD-qualified professors with some technical knowledge on concrete, along with some theories about how it can fail within decades if poorly mixed materials are used on a fault line.
Fast-forward twenty years, to now, and we see that the settlements paid were not utilized to jack up the homes and pour new slabs underneath. These settlement funds were used to pay off mortgages, buy cars, put children into college rooms, or fund surgical procedures which maintain the youthful appearance of a household matriarch. Many outrageous vacations were funded by the policy limits of Lloyds underwriters.
The loophole within the contract allowed for suits to be brought under the completed operations coverage. Construction defects were denied under any liability policy underwritten for general contractors in this region. Just as homeowners insurance cannot spread the risk far enough to cover earthquake damage, general liability policies cannot cover contractors for construction defects in an area where land movement can manifest defects overnight.
The primary experts utilized in this had specialized knowledge about framing, carpet, wood, and concrete. Specific firms utilized the concrete experts most often because the claims made resulted in some astronomical settlements for the insureds as well as their legal representatives. Neither the judges nor the juries were able to refute statements made as to the physical make-up of the concrete, which they claimed would crumble to dust within a decade.
These lawsuits were part of a Litigious attack on Lloyds which occurred during the 1990s, following the Northridge earthquake. After this devastating natural disaster, several thousand homeowners went to the original blue-prints of their homes and checked the framing that existed with what had been promised on the original schematics. With the aid of some experts on drafting and architecture, a jury was shown how only 25% of promised structural reinforcement had actually been performed.
This means that where the blue-print showed 100 nails or screws should have been present on a particular part of the framework, only 25 nails or screws were holding it in place. The companies who constructed these homes were guilty of cutting corners with such consistency that it could not be an accident. On average, about 75% of the homes built by certain contractors had followed this model.
The Northridge Earthquake initiated this cycle of class-action lawsuits brought by homeowners in the state. At this point, firms moved in like carpetbaggers, going door-to-door in many communities in order to organize class-action suits. If they could not prove that shoddy work was performed on the structure through framing schematics, then they went to the chemistry involved in laying the groundwork for structures in the area.
If the integrity of framing could not be brought to question, the integrity of carpet and linoleum was. With settlements averaging only around $10,000.00, counsel representing the homeowners went hunting for a more lucrative angle. They found their golden tuna when they discovered PhD-qualified professors with some technical knowledge on concrete, along with some theories about how it can fail within decades if poorly mixed materials are used on a fault line.
Fast-forward twenty years, to now, and we see that the settlements paid were not utilized to jack up the homes and pour new slabs underneath. These settlement funds were used to pay off mortgages, buy cars, put children into college rooms, or fund surgical procedures which maintain the youthful appearance of a household matriarch. Many outrageous vacations were funded by the policy limits of Lloyds underwriters.
The loophole within the contract allowed for suits to be brought under the completed operations coverage. Construction defects were denied under any liability policy underwritten for general contractors in this region. Just as homeowners insurance cannot spread the risk far enough to cover earthquake damage, general liability policies cannot cover contractors for construction defects in an area where land movement can manifest defects overnight.
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