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Article: Child molestation damages excluded under HO coverage. (homeowners)
- Article from:
- National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management
- Article date:
- February 18, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 The National Underwriter Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Child Molestation Damages Excluded Under HO Coverage
In an important victory for insurers, the California Supreme Court has ruled 6-1 that a victim of sexual molestation cannot collect damages from the molester's homeowners insurer.
"There is no coverage as a matter of law," the court found, citing California Insurance Code Section 533, which provides that an insurer is not liable for a "willful act of the insured."
The court noted that every other court to decide this issue under California law has held that a homeowner's policy does not provide liability coverage for child molestation.
"The courts of many other states also have ...