I was watching an old Godzilla movie when the thought occurred to me: how would the insurance people pay for a giant monsters’ rampage, if at all? Would it be a natural disaster? What exactly is an “act of God” to them?
An act of God is a violent or destructive natural event, like a tornado or earthquake, which is beyond man’s power to control. Although Godzilla was awakened by ma’s folly, I suspect Godzilla-related destruction would qualify as an “act of God”. However, I can’t answer definitively, as there is a surprising dearth of case law in the area of Godzilla rampages.
“man’s folly”. Ma played no role.
Godzilla might not fall under the category of “act of god” due to man’s awakening of him but other naturally occurring monsters such as Rodan probably would.
I beg to differ. In several of the movies documenting Godzilla’s travels, Godzilla is shown to be a thinking creature capable of making decisions. Obviously a class action suit against Mr. Zilla would be appropriate.
However, remember Steve Dallas’s first rule of litigation: Never sue poor people. They don’t have any money.
Godzilla V. Tokyo…Now THAT would be the trial of the century! How would Mr. Zilla pay his legal fees, anyway?
Act of God? Not at all. Act of Godzilla. Obviously.
In which case the insurance companies invoke the little-known “Giant Monsters, Rampages By, Exceptions For” clause in the fine print, and don’t pay a dime.
“Act of God,” according to my office’s legal dictionary, is “an event which is caused solely by the effect of nature or natural causes and without any interference by humans whatsoever.”
So it sounds like if Godzilla has a good lawyer, Tokyo would be out of luck.
Given my slender knowledge of American law, I humble propose a correction to the aforegoing discussion.
Act of God, to my knowledge, is primarily a term in contractual law, as an exception to breach of contract. In other words, if you have promised to do X, but find yourself unable to, you are still liable for breach of contract since you have promised to do X. Only if you were hindered by an accident of such a nature that you could not have foreseen it or have taken precautions, are you excused. Such an accident is termed Act of God. At least that’s how I’ve understood the term. You can try to specify in the contract incidents that will or won’t constitute an Act of God, but for things that are not explicitly mentioned, the judge will probably have to decide on his own in due fairness.
When the issue is insurance, things are rather different. The insurance contract is precisly intended to pay for things that cannot be prevented. Only if certain events have been excluded might the damage not be covered. This, however is primarily a question of contractual interpretation: what do the terms of the insurance contract say. If there is a Godzilla clause, you’re out of luck.
It’s questions like this that make me love this place. 
A completely legitimate question about a completely absurd scenario that generates completely legitimate, informed and factual responses.
Only on the SDMB, folks.
According to Trivial Pursuit, Adolph Hitler’s favorite movie was King Kong. This inevitably conjures up the image of…
HITLER vs. GODZILLA!!!
Since Mr 'Zilla was awakened from his eternal slumber by newkelar testing, then surely the ambulance chasing lawyers will be bringing the class-action suit against the guys who carried out the testing - the US government (or the French in the remake)
Are there any insurance precedents regarding animal “attacks,” such as cattle stampedes, swarms of locusts or even something as mundane as a grizzly bear attacking a residence?
I would advise against trying to institute a class action against Godzilla. One, he’s judgment proof, and two, good luck trying to serve him. The U.S. Government, or whatever government awakened the behemoth, will have soveriegn immunity and will only be subject to whatever suit Congress or the foreign equivalent will have authorized against it.
Whether or not a Godzilla attack will be considered an act of God under tort law will come down to whether or not it could have been prevented through reasonable care (in terms of Eve’s quote from her legal dictionary, if it could not have been antcipated and prevented through the exercise of reasonable care it will be deemed as having arisen “without human interference”). Under federal law dealing with liability for hazardous waste release, for example, an act of God is “an unanticipated grave natural disaster or other natural phenomenon of an exceptional, ineveitable, and irrestistable character, the effects of which could not have been prevented or avoided by the exercise of due care or foresight.” To the best of my recollection Godzilla was awakened by nuclear testing, which of course would be an ultrahazardous activity were the testing agency not immune from suit and liable. However, the awakening of Godzilla, being a unique event, was not foreseeable or avoidable with the exercise of due care. Similarly, the threat of attack from Godzilla is not the sort of harm anticipated which makes the ultrahazardous activity of nuclear testing dangerous; rather, the harm anticpated is being vaporized and/or suffering foundation damage to your home from the blast itself.
As to an insurance contract, whether it is an act of God will depend largely on the language of the contract itself. If “act of God” is itself left undefined, and the term is covered, I predict the insurance company will have to pay due to analysis similar to that made above. Even if there is restrictive language concerning the “act of God”, the general rule is that restictive language concerning coverage in an insurance contract is strictly construed against the insurer. I feel that the likelihood of recovery from (or settlement with) the insurance company would be high, absent specific restrictive language concerning nuclear testing or Godzilla.
Disclaimer: I am a lawyer, but I am neither your lawyer nor Godzilla’s lawyer. I do not practice in a Godzilla related field, and am not competent to offer advice in the event of Godzilla attacks beyond Run!!! It’s Godzilla!!!
Actually, I think that it would depend upon the circumstances. 'Zilla’s first attack would be covered by the government, and not insurance companies (they’d scream “Bankruptcy!” at the first suggestion they pay for the damage). After that, when it became obvious that 'Zilla was going to make repeat performances, the insurance companies would all slip in a “void in the case of Godzilla attack” clauses to their policies. However, there’d be all kinds of changes to the building codes to try and make buildings “monster-proof” and if you bought a building that was supposed to be up to code, but wasn’t, you could sue the builder or whomever you bought the building from.
I think what we need is a Federal Godzilla insurance program, similar to flood insurance or the Earthquake Authority in California.
What about an attack of, say, a 50 ft. woman?
Alright. Wasn’t Mecha-Godzilla created to defeat Godzilla? What about the damages caused by the clashing of those two creatures? Who would be liable?
It seems like it would be dificult to find a lawyer licensed to practice on Monster Island.
Godzilla V. Tokyo…Now THAT would be the trial of the century! How would Mr. Zilla pay his legal fees, anyway?
(Man speaking rapidly. His mouth motions are ludicrously out of synch with the dubbed dialogue)
Man: Look out! It’s Godzilla’s Lawyer!!! Aiiiiiiiiieeeee!!!