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Explaining "Fortuity" as an Unwritten Exclusion   

https://zalma.com/blog

Because the purpose of insurance is to protect insureds against unknown,  or fortuitous, risks, fortuity is an inherent requirement of all  insurance policies that take on the risk of loss accepted by the policy.  [Two Pesos, Inc. v. Gulf Ins. Co., 901 S.W. 2d 495, 502 (Tex. App.  Houston [14th Dist.] 1995, no writ)]. The fortuity doctrine precludes  coverage for both a \\u201cknown loss\\u201d and a \\u201closs in progress.\\u201d A \\u201cknown  loss\\u201d is a loss the insured knew had occurred prior to making the  insurance contract. [Burch v. Commonwealth Mut. Ins. Co., 450 S.W. 2d  838, 840-41 (Tex. 1970)].  The doctrine has its roots in the prevention of fraud: because insurance  policies are designed to insure against fortuities, fraud occurs when a  policy is misused to insure a certainty. Inland Waters Pollution  Control, Inc. v. Nat\\u2019l Union Fire Ins. Co., 997 F. 2d 172, 175-77 (6th  Cir. 1993) and Scottsdale Insurance Company v. William Barret Travis,  Maintenance, Inc., No. 05-99-01831-CV (Tex. App. Dist. 5 05/29/2001).  The California Supreme Court considered the complex questions of  insurance policy coverage interpretation that arose in connection with a  federal court-ordered cleanup of the state\\u2019s Stringfellow Acid Pits  waste site. The Supreme Court initially addressed the \\u201c\\u2018continuous  injury\\u2019 trigger of coverage,\\u201d as that principle was explained in  Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Admiral Ins. Co. (1995) 10 Cal.4th 645, (P.2d  878 (1995) and the \\u201call sums\\u201d rule adopted in Aerojet-General Corp. v.  Transport Indemnity Co. (1997) 17 Cal.4th 38, 55-57 (Aerojet). The  California Supreme Court brought to an end the dispute that started in  the 1960\\u2019s when the Stringfellow Acid Pits began to leak. [State Of  California v. Underwriters at Lloyd\\u2019s London (2006) 146 Cal.App.4th 851  (54 Cal. Rptr. 3d 343)]  \\xa9 2021 \\u2013 Barry Zalma Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to  service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage,  insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud  almost equally for insurers and policyholders.  He also serves as an arbitrator or mediator for insurance related  disputes. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an  insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 54 years in  the insurance business.  He is available at http://www.zalma.com and zalma@zalma.com. Mr. Zalma  is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE Legend  Award. Over the last 53 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to  insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He  has created the following library of books and other materials to make  it possible for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance  claims professionals.  Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma;  Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library \\u2013 https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ Read posts from Barry Zalma at https://parler.com/profile/Zalma/posts; and the last two issues of ZIFL at https://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/  podcast now available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zalma-on-insurance/id1509583809?uo=4