372
Opinion of the Court
California's insistence that insurers show prejudice before they may deny coverage because of late notice is grounded in policy concerns specific to the insurance industry. See Brief for Council of State Governments et al. as Amici Curiae 10-14. That grounding is key to our decision. Announcing the notice-prejudice rule in Campbell v. Allstate Ins. Co., 60 Cal. 2d 303, 384 P. 2d 155 (1963) (en banc), the California Supreme Court emphasized the "public policy of this state" in favor of compensating insureds. Id., at 307, 384 P. 2d, at 157; see ibid. (weighing the relative burdens of notice-prejudice on insurers and insureds). Subsequent notice-prejudice rulings have likewise focused on insurance industry policy and governance. See, e. g., Hanover Ins. Co. v. Carroll, 241 Cal. App. 2d 558, 570, 50 Cal. Rptr. 704, 712 (1st Dist. 1966) (public policy respecting compensation of insured injured parties); Northwestern Title Security Co. v. Flack, 6 Cal. App. 3d 134, 143-144, 85 Cal. Rptr. 693, 698 (1st Dist. 1970) (extending notice-prejudice rule to "claims-type" policies, rejecting contention that sound public policy required limitation of rule to "occurrence-type" policies); Pacific Employers Ins. Co. v. Superior Court, 221 Cal. App. 3d 1348, 1359-1360, 270 Cal. Rptr. 779, 784-785 (2d Dist. 1990) (evaluating insurance industry public policy considerations in reaching the opposite conclusion). Decisions of courts in other States similarly indicate that the notice-prejudice rule addresses policy concerns specific to insurance. See, e. g., Cooper v. Government Employees Ins. Co., 51 N. J. 86, 94, 237 A. 2d 870, 874 (1968) (failure to adopt notice-prejudice would "disserve the public interest, for insurance is an instrument of a social policy that the victims of negligence be compensated"); Great American Ins. Co. v. C. G. Tate Construction Co., 303 N. C. 387, 395, 279 S. E. 2d 769, 774 (1981) ("The [notice-prejudice] rule we adopt today has the advan-provide timely notice whenever the insurer cannot carry the burden of showing actual prejudice, and it allows no argument over the materiality of the time prescription.
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