While I was not thrilled to have lost an hour of sleep last night, I will gladly trade that extra hour for an extra hour of sunlight! In thinking about the “spring forward” this weekend I became curious about which states, if any, do not currently observe Daylight Savings Time (DST).

Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and most of Arizona do not observe DST. Specifically, in Arizona, the Navajo Indian territories do observe DST.

A few years ago, the state of Indiana (where I attended college in South Bend) made a change to its observance of DST:1

From 1970 until 2006, most of Indiana in the Eastern Time Zone did not observe daylight saving time, but the entire state started to do so in April 2006 after eight counties in western Indiana were shifted from the Eastern Time Zone to the Central Time Zone.[25] One goal for observing DST was to get more Indiana counties observing the same time zone; formerly, 77 counties observed EST, 5 observed EST/EDT (the EDT usage being unofficial only), and 10 observed CST/CDT. At present, Indiana has 12 counties observing Central Daylight Time while the remaining 80 counties observe Eastern Daylight Time.

In our property insurance law practice one of the first things we determine in a claim is the date the clock starts ticking for the running of the Statute of Limitations. Many of my colleagues have written prior blogs on various states’ Statute of Limitations. Today, I will discuss the Statute of Limitations for a first-party property insurance claim in Indiana.

The applicable Statute of Limitations is ascertained by identifying the nature and substance of the cause of action.2 In Indiana, an action upon a written contract to recover damages to property must be commenced within ten (10) years after the cause of action accrues unless another statute applies a shorter period:3

An action upon contracts in writing other than those for the payment of money, and including all mortgages other than chattel mortgages, deeds of trust, judgments of courts of record, and for the recovery of the possession of real estate, must be commenced within ten (10) years after the cause of action accrues. However, an action upon contracts in writing other than those for the payment of money entered into before September 1, 1982, not including chattel mortgages, deeds of trust, judgments of courts of record, or for the recovery of the possession of real estate, must be commenced within twenty (20) years after the cause of action accrues.

Indiana Code § 34-11-2-7(3) provides that actions for injuries to real property must be brought within six (6) years after the cause of action accrues.

A question that often arises is whether parties may enter into a contract to shorten a statute of limitations. While not favored, a contractual limitation in the insurance policy which shortens the time to commence a lawsuit is valid in Indiana, at least so long as a reasonable time is afforded, except where there is fraud, duress and the like.4 Therefore, in the event of a property loss always make sure to read your policy to make sure you are aware of the date by which you may be required to commence a lawsuit.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_in_the_United_States#Indiana
2 Shriner v. Sheehan, 773 N.E.2d 833 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).
3 Ind. Code Ann. § 34-11-2-11.
4 Auto-Owners Inc. Co. v. Hughes, 943 N.E.2d 432 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011); see also New Welton Homes v. Eckman, 830 N.E.2d 32, 35 (Ind. 2005).