Facts

Plaintiff Alice Wong was the owner and resident of real property located at 423 Raymond Street in San Francisco. Plaintiff obtained one year of homeowners' insurance through defendant Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company. The policy covered damage to the residence, damage to personal property in the residence and additional living expenses if plaintiff was unable to occupy the residence. On May 7, 2001, the residence was destroyed by a fire from the neighboring property. Due to the fire damage, the premises were rendered uninhabitable thus causing plaintiff and her family to be homeless. The fire also damaged plaintiff's personal property.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff alleged defendant failed to include the damage to the premises in determining replacement cost. This included the costs of eradicating mold and asbestos contamination and abatement from its calculation and defendant refused to pay for necessary testing. The plaintiff further claimed that defendant improperly refused to inspect plaintiff's personal property and refused to compensate her for the damaged property. The plaintiff claimed that defendant also refused to pay additional living expenses beyond January 2002 though it had refused to pay the full amount of repairs for her property.

Further, the plaintiff claimed that defendant had improperly concealed additional benefits it owed plaintiff and that defendant did not use a competent, disinterested and independent appraiser.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant denied the plaintiff's allegations.

Injuries

The plaintiff alleged breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud.

Result

The jury returned a verdict for the defendant concluding defendant had not failed to perform its obligations under the contract. The court awarded costs of $33,313 to defendant.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Dec. 22, 2003.