Doctrine of efficient proximate cause, the katrina. Proximate cause 1 the cause having the most significant impact in bringing about the loss under a firstparty property insurance policy, when two or more independent perils operate at the same time i. Some observations on the doctrine of proximate cause jstor. If that cause of the loss was an excluded peril, then coverage was denied.
If an independent action breaks the chain of events and sets in motion a new chain of events, this intervening cause becomes the proximate cause. The principles of insurance proximate cause discussed, the proximate cause must be identified before it is possible to decide whether the loss or damage is covered by the policy. Proximate cause is that cause that in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces injury, and without which, result would not have occurred. The name given to the direct cause of an accident or incident leading to injury, is referred to as proximate. To drive this initial analysis, courts should first determine the. Which rule to apply depends on how the fact pattern has been framed. How is proximate cause determined in a fire insurance policy. Concurrent proximate causes in insurance disputes santa clara. Proximate cause refers to the first event, or first peril, in a series of events that cause damage in an insurance claim. Anticoncurrent causation clauses in insurance contracts.
Uberrimae fidei proximate cause subrogation and contribution differentiation insurance and guarantee insurance and wager disclosure moral hazards. Jul 02, 2019 proximate cause is the legal term used to describe the specific cause of your injuries. In addition to showing that the defendant breached a legal duty, the plaintiffs personal injury lawyer must show that this breach was the cause of the plaintiffs injuries. To drive this initial analysis, courts should first determine the temporal and sufficiency dimensions of each cause. Everything you need to know about proximate cause in accident. The recent decision in midland mainline v eagle star insurance co.
Identifying the cause of loss in general insurance claims. Serial and independentconcurrent causes ininsurance law hillel davidand gary caplan until the decision in c. Rules for application of proximate cause in insurance. It is the argument that proximate cause is an essential component of a negligence claim and that it is missing in the particular fact pattern before the court. Cause in fact cause antecedent but for which the result in question would nave have occurred. Proximate cause is an important principle of insurance, which helps in deciding how the loss or damage happen and whether it. The rule of efficient proximate cause requires coverage where a covered peril sets into motion a causal chain, the last link of which is excluded.
In ascertaining the cause of a loss in question, in a case of insurance, courts are governed by the wellknown maxim of the law, in. Proximate cause relates to the relationship between an event and an injury. In a medical malpractice case, the plaintiff must also show that the breach was a proximate cause of the injury of which the plaintiff complains examples of the proximate cause. How is proximate cause determined in a fire insurance. The enigma of causation in insurance contract interpretation. Applies common law principles like multiple sufficient causation actual result would not have occurred as it did. If the cause is an insured one, the claim is payable, if the cause is uninsured or excepted the claim is not payable. Concurrent causes of a loss dolden wallace folick llp. The role of acc clauses in us insurance law in particular presents controversy. There is a general rule that applies to the burden of proof. But the court asserted that doing so was not a novel or unexpected extension of the law because the efficient proximate cause rule had never been limited to specific types of insurance.
Jan 12, 2018 compensation is not paid when the incident that caused the loss doesnt happen during the time allotted in the contract or from the specific agreed upon causes of loss as you will see in the principle of proximate cause. According to the law of marine insurance, only the last cause needs to be looked into and others neglected even though the result might have not occurred without them. Three unruly doctrinesproximate cause, concurrent cause, and efficient proximate causecause an inordinate amount of litigation. That is, whenever the proximate cause is covered as shown in the far left column, courts hold that the loss is covered as shown in the far right. Heres where we unpack what you need to know about proximate cause, and how the insurance company will look at all the factors that might have contributed your injury. The policyholder must demonstrate that an insured peril has caused the loss or damage and, having done so, it. If someones actions are a remote cause of your injury, they are not a proximate cause. The efficient proximate cause rule applies only when two or more perils combine in sequence to cause a loss and a covered peril is. Proximate cause financial definition of proximate cause. Everything you need to know about proximate cause in. After reference to the general rules of interpretation of insurance policies. The proximate cause of an event is the near cause as opposed to the remote cause of the event. Courts employ a set of proximate cause rules to resolve causation disputes when a property policy states that it covers or excludes losses caused by a.
The proximate cause itself may not do any direct damage. It was crucial that this question of fact and the special rules of law relating to its proof be recognised as completely. The court reaffirmed that where there are multiple causes of damage to an insureds property, with some covered and some excluded, the loss is covered if the most important or predominant cause is a covered risk. May 05, 2017 no washington court had ever before applied the efficient proximate cause rule outside firstparty property coverage cases. Dec 02, 2017 proximate cause refers to a direct cause of loss, without which the loss would not occur.
Proximate cause is an important principle of insurance, which helps in deciding how the loss or damage happen and whether it is the result of an insured peril or not. But the court asserted that doing so was not a novel or unexpected extension of the law because the efficient proximate cause rule had never been limited to. There might be multiple causes for the delay but the aptest cause must be looked into. For chain of events fact patterns, the default rule is that the initial peril that sets the chain of events in motion is the proximate cause. The doctrine of proximate cause, which is common to all branches of insurance, must be applied with good sense so as to give effect to and not to defeat the intention. For instance, take a puncture of the arterial wall by a catheter during a procedure. The actions of the person or entity who owes you a duty must be sufficiently related to your injuries such that the law considers the person to have caused your injuries in a legal sense.
It was crucial that this question of fact and the special rules of law relating to its proof be recognised as completely distinct from the issue of where and why responsibility for the in. Properly implemented, proximate cause in patent law can resolve other difficulties that are explored in this article. However, the present school of thought has given this doctrine the status of a principle and, therefore, nowadays it is considered to be one of the six principles of insurance, backed up by sound rules and legal dictum. When a claim occurs under a general insurance policy the insurers will identity the proximate cause of the loss to ensure that the loss or damage has been caused by an insured peril but what is proximate cause and how does this affect the settlement of claims identifying the cause of loss in general insurance claims. Proximate cause international journal of law management. The enigma of causation in insurance contract interpretation insurance policies are long, convoluted, and abstruse documents. In order to prevail win in a lawsuit for damages due to negligence or some other wrong, it is essential to claim plead proximate cause in the complaint and to prove in trial that the negligent act of the defendant was the proximate cause and not some other. Florida supreme court rejects efficient proximate cause. The purpose is not to show how these claims would be adjusted under todays coverage forms. The state of the law in 2017 article pdf available may 2017 with 684 reads how we measure reads. Its purpose is to demonstrate how courts apply the common law rule. The term proximate has long been known to mean near, or in the vicinity of, not actual.
Proximate cause legal definition of proximate cause. In the context of a car accident case, the concept of proximate cause refers to the act or failure to act that was the legal cause of the auto accident, and led to all resulting injuries and vehicle damage. Proximate cause relates to the scope of a defendants responsibility in a negligence case. In the context of the law, there must be a sufficient relationship between an event or. The insured is seeking to recover under a policy of insurance, and the central legal question is whether the insureds policy covers the loss or liability. Efficient proximate cause epc, concurrent causation cc. In insurance law causa proxima et non remota spectrum means the. Doctrine of proximate causethe application of commonsense.
Wherever there is a succession of causes which must have existed in order to produce. However, the term proximate cause is a negligence law. An act from which an injury results as a natural, direct, uninterrupted consequence and without which the injury would not have occurred. Insurance contracts are created solely as a means to provide protection from unexpected events, not as a means to make a. Proximate cause proximate cause definition find an. Court found the proximate cause of loss to be the painters failure to ventilate, but held the loss was excluded from coverage because the damage was caused. Proximate cause is the legal term used to describe the specific cause of your injuries. A defendant in a negligence case is only responsible for those harms. When a claim occurs under a general insurance policy the insurers will identity the proximate cause of the loss to ensure that the loss or damage has been caused by an insured peril but what is proximate cause and how does this affect the settlement of claims. However, the present school of thought has given this doctrine the status of a principle and, therefore, nowadays it is considered to be one of the six principles of insurance, backed up by.
Intervening cause does not exempt defendant from liability if that cause is put into operation by defendants wrongful act or omission. The third requirement for a negligence lawsuit is proximate cause, or legal cause. Insurance coverage actions generally involve an insurer and the insured. Property insurance how is proximate cause determined in a fire insurance policy. In law, a proximate cause is an event sufficiently related to an injury that the courts deem the event to be the cause of that injury. This chapter aims to explain what proximate cause means, why it is typically deemed essential to a negligence claim and why its content has eluded easy formulation. For an act or event to be considered a proximate cause, it does not necessarily have to directly precede a loss or begin a chain of occurrences leading to the same. The scope of the problem with proximate cause lies in a few different areas, especially in its name. When a single cause gives rise to a claim, the issue is simple. Proximate cause refers to a direct cause of loss, without which the loss would not occur. The insurance policy may cover the proximate cause, but not the event that actually causes.
The holding is based on the efficient proximate cause doctrine codified in insurance code section 530, which provides. Courts use varying terms proximate cause, efficient proximate cause. A defendant in a negligence case is only responsible for those harms that the defendant could have foreseen through his or her actions. For marine insurance to be observed the understanding of how proximate cause principle is applied in marine insurance must be understood. Its not a concept thats wellunderstood by nonlawyers, but proximate cause may come into the discussion when both sides of an insurance claim or lawsuit are debating the key issues.
The doctrine of proximate cause or causa poxima is one of the principles of insurance. Proximate cause in life insurance the efficient or effective, cause which causes the loss is called proximate cause, it is the actual cause of loss. The rules for application of proximate cause in insurance are as follows. In extraordinary ruling, washington supreme court applies. No washington court had ever before applied the efficient proximate cause rule outside firstparty property coverage cases.
As the countrys highest court has pushed patent law, as well as other statutory torts, in the same direction as other civil causes of action, the full adoption of proximate cause in all monetary. Prior to the mid1980s most insurance policies did not contain acc clauses. Confusion about causation in insurance alabama law. An insurer is liable for a loss of which a peril insured against was the proxi mate cause. The court found that because fire was the efficient proximate cause of the mudslide, the policy exclusion for damage caused by mudslide was not enforceable. Proximate cause is an act, whether intentional or negligent, that is determined to have caused someone elses damages, injury, or suffering. But for the action, the result would not have happened. An intervening cause may therefore be viewed as an extreme form of proximate cause.
Until recent past the principle of proximate cause was not used to be considered as a principle as such. Proximate causation in insurance law wiley online library. Anticoncurrent causation and its effect on the efficient. In assessing cahills activities, the court noted that his actions in shunning the safety ropes and choosing to climb 10 feet away from them may well fit the recalcitrant worker definition and be the sole proximate cause of the accident.
This article proposes supplanting the doctrine of efficient proximate cause with refinements in con. Doctrine of efficient proximate cause, the katrina disaster. The insurance policy may cover the proximate cause, but not the event that actually causes the damage, so the policy holder will not be. Keep in mind that a negligent act is the proximate cause of an injury if the injury is the natural and probable result of the act.
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