Rosen v. State Farm General Insurance Company

George Rosen's (plaintiff) homeowner's policy with State Farm (defendant) covered only actual, sudden collapse of all or part of his home, expressly excluding bowing, sagging, and mere signs of imminent collapse. When a contractor warned that two decks were about to collapse, Rosen repaired them and submitted a claim, which State Farm denied because the decks hadn't actually collapsed. The trial court sided with Rosen, reasoning that public policy required covering imminent collapse to avoid encouraging homeowners to delay repairs until disaster struck, and the court of appeal affirmed on the same public-policy ground while acknowledging the policy's plain language didn't cover imminent collapse.