Motiv Group, Inc. v. Continental Casualty Co.

Year: 2021
Court: United States District Court Central District of California Western
Case Number: 3:20-cv-08206

In its brief, UP reasons that under California law, real and personal property sustains “direct physical loss or damage” when the proliferation of a deadly virus and ensuing government closure orders deprive that property of its intended use. Its reasoning is that California has set a precedence of adherence to the “common sense” position that property that is physically lost or damaged when its use or function is materially impaired by a fortuitous peril, even if the property’s basic structure remains intact. 

UP argues these five main points

  1. Physical property suffers “direct physical loss or damage” when a fortuitous peril compromises the property’s use or function.
  2. The “physical” injury requirement only guards against intangible or non-fortuitous losses, not unexpected loss of use of real or personal property. 
  3. Damage to the usability of property due to a viral pandemic and related government orders constitutes direct physical loss and damage 
  4. The federal precedents CCC invokes are inapposite and unpersuasive 
  5. CCC cannot credibly oppose coverage for a viral pandemic under a policy with no virus exclusion 

David Goodwin and Sylvia Huang of Covington and Burling LLP

 


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Source: https://uphelp.org/amicus-briefs/motiv-group-inc-v-continental-casualty-co/
Date: December 14, 2024