Insurance policies can sometimes provide a source of recovery for victims of sexual and childhood sexual abuse. Whether a policy will cover a particular claim depends on the unique facts and circumstances of the abuse. As an insurance lawyer, I help victims file claims and pursue available insurance proceeds to cover their various losses.
Sexual abuse victims endure serious physical, mental, emotional, and psychological injury. This harm can be especially intense for child sexual abuse victims. Because of the nature of their ordeal, victims could face severe financial expenses and losses. Depending on the facts of their abuse, the victim may have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit.
A potentially responsible party may, in turn, have an insurance policy. The policy may provide defense and indemnity for a covered liability, which could include a settlement or judgment encompassing various damages. Despite this, however, the insurance company may dispute whether the policy provides coverage or how much it has to pay.
If you or someone you love has suffered sexual abuse, it’s important to consider your various options for claiming compensation. One of those might be through an insurance policy. I work with victims and their families to pursue coverage under applicable policies and help them through the claims process.
Potential Legal Claims Involving Sexual Abuse
A victim of sexual abuse could have a legal claim against the person who abused them as well as others whose negligence or misconduct facilitated the harm. Filing a claim potentially allows the victim to seek a number of different damages that are primarily aimed at compensating them for their losses.
Based on the facts of the abuse, an adult or child victim could have a claim against one or more parties, including:
- The person who actually abused them
- An organization or institution that failed to protect them
- A negligent employer or supervisor
- A facility or caregiver that was responsible for the victim’s safety
Insurance Coverage and Sexual Abuse Claims
Insurance can become a relevant issue because various individuals, organizations, businesses, and other entities often purchase liability policies. These policies may provide coverage for certain liabilities arising from sexual abuse claims, depending on the policy and circumstances. They can thereby be used to pay for a number of different damages that the victims incur.
Some possible examples of such damages include:
- Medical expenses for treating the victim’s physical injuries or diseases they contract
- Therapy, counseling, and mental health costs
- Lost income and lost earning capacity
- Physical and emotional distress
- Other losses and recoverable damages
It’s important to understand, however, that simply because an individual or entity has an insurance policy does not guarantee it will cover a particular claim. Coverage depends on various elements like the policy terms, conditions, limits, exclusions, and more.
My work in this area comes from both sides. Before representing policyholders and survivors, I spent years handling insurance coverage matters for carriers, including defending institutions in childhood sexual abuse litigation. That work meant seeing how these cases are evaluated internally, how an institution and its insurers assess exposure, where coverage is located across policy periods that may span decades, and what actually drives a resolution. I use that experience now to hep victims of childhood sexual abuse.
What to Do After Sexual Abuse
If you, your child, or another loved one has experienced sexual abuse, the steps you take next could be important to a potential legal or insurance claim. One of the first steps you should take is preserve any evidence you have, including medical records, communications, employment documentation, and anything else that’s relevant.
Adults who were abused as children should not assume it is too late to act, but the deadline depends on when the abuse happened and what it involved.
For childhood sexual assault occurring on or after January 1, 2024, AB 452 eliminated the filing deadline entirely. There is no time limit.
For abuse before that date, the older rules still apply. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1, a claim may generally be brought within 22 years of turning 18, so ordinarily until age 40, or within five years of the date the survivor discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, that a psychological injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later.
A separate provision added in 2024, Code of Civil Procedure section 340.11, governs instead of section 340.1 where the pre-2024 abuse involved conduct proscribed by Penal Code sections 311.1 or 311.2, which concern obscene matter depicting a minor. There the period runs 22 years from turning 18, or ten years from the date the survivor discovers, or reasonably should have discovered after turning 18, that the material exists, whichever is later. Because the clock runs from discovering the material rather than from recognizing the injury, this can reach considerably further back than survivors expect.
Two further points matter for pre-2024 claims. AB 218 opened a three-year window that revived claims already time-barred; that window closed on December 31, 2022. And where a claim is filed after the survivor has turned 40, the law requires certificates of merit signed by the attorney and by a licensed mental health practitioner who is not a party to the case and has not treated the survivor.
Because which rule applies turns on when the abuse occurred, what it involved, and what the survivor knew and when, this is worth checking rather than assuming. I can review the circumstances, examine any available insurance coverage, and discuss the remedies that may be available.
Relentless but Patient. Reach Out Today!
If you or someone you know is a sexual abuse survivor, reach out to me today. I provide confidential and compassionate legal guidance and help with the insurance issues that are often involved in these claims. I meet with clients in English, Armenian, and Russian. A first conversation does not commit you to anything, and it stays between us.