Insurance — Homeowners policies — continuous trigger theory

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U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Insurance — Homeowners policies — continuous trigger theory

Where a home suffered water damage whenever it rained from the time it was built, a suit against the insurers for coverage filed within one year of discovering the damage was timely.

“In Wisconsin, under the continuous trigger theory, a progressive loss ‘occurs continuously from exposure until manifestation.’ Soc’y, 607 N.W.2d at 346. Here, because the loss was ongoing and occurred with each rainfall and because the Policy itself states that ‘[c]ontinuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general conditions unless excluded is considered to be one occurrence,’ the loss, for purposes of the statute of limitations, occurred all the way up until the damage manifested in October 2010. The parties do not dispute that the Strausses filed suit within one year of manifestation of the water infiltration. Therefore, their suit is timely.”

Affirmed.

13-2580 Strauss v. Chubb Indemnity Ins. Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Goodstein, Mag. J., Kendall, J.

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