Gregory v. Safeco Ins. Co. of
Am.
Nos. 22SC399 and 22SC563, 2024 CO 13, 2024 WL 1040531 (Colo. Mar.
11, 2024)
The Supreme Court of Colorado extended the notice-prejudice rule
to first-party occurrence homeowner policies, reversing two
decisions from the underlying district courts.
In the first district court case, Karyn Gregory (Gregory) had a
homeowner's policy with defendant Safeco, effective February
2017 through February 2018, which covered losses that occurred
during the policy period. Additionally, the policy required that if
the loss was caused by windstorm or hail, Gregory was to give
notice within 365 days of the loss. In May of 2017, during the
policy period, a hailstorm caused damage to Gregory's home, but
she did not discover the damage until an inspection in preparation
for sale of the home in October 2018. Gregory filed a claim with
Safeco in October 2018, and Safeco denied the claim as untimely.
The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of
