Warehouseman's Legal Liability
Coverage and Notice Requirements

Q

We insure a company that rents storage units to individuals who store their goods at the insured's premises. One of the individuals who stored his goods at our insured's place fell behind in his rental fees and the insured began legal proceedings to auction the renter's goods. The goods were legally auctioned in March of 1999, but the renter was apparently unaware of this since he began paying the rental fee again in April. Due to an error by the insured in handling paperwork, the rental fees were accepted from April, 1999 through October, 1999. In November, 1999, the renter came to pick up his goods and was told then that the goods had been auctioned in March. The renter filed a lawsuit in July of 2001, at which time the insured notified the insurer. The insurer denied coverage because the warehouseman's legal liability policy has a one year notice clause.