Does a city's negligent maintenance of a water main result in the destruction of a homeowner's home?

2 In Waldsmith v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., supra, 232 Cal.App.3d 693, 283 Cal.Rptr. 607, the parties stipulated that a city water main "was negligently maintained, broke, saturated the soil causing a landslide which destroyed plaintiffs' house." (Id., at p. 695, 283 Cal.Rptr. 607.) For purposes of deciding coverage, the parties also stipulated that the efficient proximate cause of the loss was negligence on the city's part. (Id., at p. 696, 283 Cal.Rptr. 607.) The homeowner's policy contained an earth movement exclusion, as well as the exclusions for conduct, act, failure to act of a government body and defect, weakness, inadequacy in design, construction, materials, maintenance, etc. The reviewing court held that neither the ultimate cause of the loss (landslide), nor the stipulated efficient proximate cause (city's negligent maintenance) were covered perils. (Id., at p. 697, 283 Cal.Rptr. 607.) Waldsmith, unlike this case, was a suit between parties to the contract, i.e., the insured sued his insurer unsuccessfully claiming coverage under the contract.