Sasser v. Allstate Ins. Co.
In May 2007, a house owned by appellant Jake Sasser suffered fire damage. The property was covered by an insurance policy issued to Sasser by respondent Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate), and Sasser filed a claim for the damage to the property. Allstate denied Sasser’s claim on the basis that his loss was the result of vandalism, a type of loss subject to a policy exclusion.
Sasser sued, asserting seven causes of action. Allstate moved for summary judgment or, alternatively, summary adjudication, and the trial court granted summary adjudication on six of the claims, all but that for breach of contract. The case then proceeded to trial on the one remaining cause of action. After brief deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in Allstate’s favor.
After the trial, Allstate filed a cost bill seeking over $25,000 in costs, and the trial court allowed most of the costs under Code of Civil Procedure section 1032. Also after trial, Allstate filed a motion under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420 to recover the legal fees it incurred in proving the truth of admission requests Sasser had denied during the course of discovery. The court ultimately granted Allstate’s motion in part, awarding it $25,000 in connection with Sasser’s denial of one request for admission.
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