Butki v. United Services Automobile Assn.

Opinion

SILLS, P. J.

Plaintiffs Alan and Barbara Butki live in La Palma in a house built in the mid-1960’s. The house sits on a concrete slab which is cracking and slowly deteriorating due to a high level of sulfates in the soil. The Butkis, who bought the house in 1984, submitted a notice of loss under

[466]

an “all risk” homeowner’s policy to their insurer, United Services Automobile Association. The claim was denied on the ground the claimed loss was excluded under the policy. The Butkis sued for declaratory relief, breach of contract, bad faith and statutory violations. The insurer’s motion for summary judgment was granted, and the Butkis appeal. We affirm.

I

Questions of coverage relative to the deterioration of concrete foundations of houses due to corrosive soils are not new to this court. In

Brodkin

v.

State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

(1989) 217 Cal.App.3d 210, 217 [265 Cal.Rptr. 710], we held: “If the existence of cow urine, swamp seepage,

or other corrosives in the soil

is the proximate cause of damage to the foundation of the house, the claim is clearly barred under that part of the policy which excludes claims for the ‘leakage or seepage of water,’ ‘wear, tear,’ ‘deterioration,’ ‘inherent vice’ and ‘contamination.’ ” (Italics added.) (See also

State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

v.

Martin

(C.D.Cal. 1987) 668 F.Supp. 1379, 1382-1383, affd. (9th Cir. 1989) 872 F.2d 319.)

Here, the Butkis asserted their loss was caused by the corrosive attack of sulfates and chlorides on the foundation of the house.

1

The homeowner’s insurance policy, under the section entitled “Perils Insured Against,” provides the policy does not cover physical loss to the property due to “seepage or leakage of water,” “wear and tear,” “deterioration,” “inherent vice, latent defect,” or “contamination.” Under