A general liability insurer had a duty to defend its insured, a bedding manufacturer, against a consumer class action lawsuit arising from the insured’s sale of allegedly defective mattresses. ( Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Tempur-Sealy International, Inc. (2016) WL … Read More
A “following form” excess liability policy did not include uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage that was provided in the underlying primary policy. ( Haering v. Topa Insurance Company (2016) WL 409532) Facts Larry Haering was the owner of California Fleet, Inc. … Read More
An auto policy’s “non-owned” auto coverage did not apply where the non-owned vehicle the insured was driving at the time of the accident was “furnished or available” for the insured’s “regular use.” ( Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Shimon (2015) … Read More
A commercial general liability policy’s exclusion for “subsidence” resulting from the insured’s “operations” barred coverage for a landslide that allegedly resulted from the insured’s maintenance and construction activities. ( Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company v. Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association (2015) WL … Read More
A property insurer had no express or implied obligation to reimburse an insured for emergency mitigation expenses in the absence of an otherwise covered loss. ( Grebow v. Mercury Insurance Company (2015) WL 6166610) Facts Arthur and Helen Grebow owned … Read More
Pursuant to California Insurance Code section 520, once a covered “loss” has happened, the insured may assign its right to recover to a third party. ( Fluor Corporation v. Superior Court (2015) 61 Cal.4th 1175) Facts In 1924, the original … Read More
A liability insurer may seek reimbursement of allegedly excessive legal fees directly from independent “Cumis” counsel in order to prevent the latter from being unjustly enriched. ( Hartford Casualty Ins. Co. v. J.R. Marketing, LLC (2015) WL 4716917) Facts Hartford … Read More
An insurer’s reservation of rights letter as to an additional insured in a construction defect lawsuit did not trigger a conflict of interest sufficient to require the insurer to provide “independent counsel” to the additional insured. ( Centex Homes v. … Read More
A court may not require appraisers to assign loss values to items that are undamaged or that demonstrably never existed. ( Lee v. California Capital Insurance Company (2015) 2015 WL 3797827) Facts Li-Lin Sung Lee owned an apartment building with … Read More
An insured’s act of pruning her neighbor’s trees was not an “occurrence,” or “accident,” within the meaning of a homeowners policy. ( Albert v. Mid-Century Insurance Company (2015) 2015 WL 2398554) Facts Shelly Albert and Henri Baccouche were neighbors. In … Read More
A non-defending insurer’s alleged right to equitably offset settlement amounts paid by other non-defending insurers does not affect the amount of damages suffered by the insured, only the amount of damages that can be recovered by the insured at trial. … Read More
A commercial general liability policy’s “intellectual property” exclusion relieved the insurer of any duty to defend or indemnify its insured against a suit alleging commercial misappropriation of the claimant’s name. ( Alterra Excess and Surplus Insurance Company v. Snyder (2015) … Read More
Where a transient started a fire on the floor of a house in an apparent effort to keep warm but then lost control of the fire, the fire was not an act of “vandalism” for purposes of a “vacancy” exclusion. … Read More
A “prior publication” exclusion relieved a general liability insurer of any duty to defend an insured in a suit alleging trademark infringement, because the insured published at least one advertisement using the claimant’s advertising idea before the policy period, and … Read More
Although a homeowners insurer had no duty to defend an insured against various “personal injury” claims arising from an alleged sexual assault committed by others, a personal umbrella insurer did have a duty to defend the insured against such claims. … Read More
The statute of limitations may be tolled where an alleged tortfeasor or its liability insurer makes an advance payment to an injured person without notifying such person of the applicable limitations period. ( Blevin v. Coastal Surgical Institute (2015) 232 … Read More
Where an insurer’s failure to pay a property claim prevents the insured from making repairs, the insured is entitled to a “conditional” award of replacement cost, but the insured ultimately must still complete repairs in order to qualify for replacement … Read More
As authorized by statute, underinsured motorist benefits may be reduced not only by the amount recovered from the negligent driver’s insurer, but also by the amount recovered from another alleged tortfeasor. ( Elliot v. Geico Indemnity Co. (2014) 231 Cal.App.4th … Read More
A third-party claimant’s failure to make an effective “policy limits demand” against the correct insured insulated the insurer from liability for alleged bad faith failure to settle. ( Graciano v. Mercury General Corp. (2014) 2014 WL 5860297) Facts Sonia Graciano … Read More
A commercial general liability insurer had no duty to defend a massage company’s employee against a suit alleging that the employee sexually assaulted a client during a massage. ( Baek v. Continental Casualty Co. (2014) 2014 WL 4966020) Facts Jamie … Read More