Where the insureds mistakenly provided their tax returns to the insurer’s attorney during investigation of a first-party claim, and the attorney then disclosed the returns to the insurer and its accountants, the attorney could be held liable for “invasion of … Read More

Where a commercial lease required a landlord to procure fire insurance for the benefit of a tenant, the landlord’s insurer could not pursue a subrogation action against the tenant for fire damage allegedly caused by the tenant. (Western Heritage Ins. Co. … Read More

An additional insured endorsement’s “care, custody, or control” exclusion did not relieve an insurer of a duty to defend its additional insured, a general contractor, in a construction defect lawsuit. (McMillin Homes Construction, Inc. v. National Fire & Marine Ins. Co. (2019) … Read More

Under California’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, a third-party claimant could challenge an insured’s release of a bad faith claim against an insurer after the insurer allegedly failed to accept a reasonable settlement demand within policy limits. (Potter v. Alliance United Insurance … Read More

A property insurer was not liable where the insured’s contractor cashed a jointly-payable check pursuant to a power of attorney granted in a construction contract. (Jozefowicz v. Allstate Ins. Co. (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 829) Facts Stanley Jozefowicz owned a mobilehome for which … Read More

Despite California Government Code section 825.4, which generally prohibits public entities from seeking indemnity from employees, a public entity’s liability insurer was entitled to recover from its employees’ liability insurer. (Westport Ins. Corp. v. California Cas. Mgmt. Co. (9th Cir. 2019) 916 … Read More

An insured’s higher-layer excess policies did not incorporate lower-layer umbrella policies’ self-insured retentions, and did cover defense costs without regard to the outcome of the case. (Deere & Company v. Allstate Ins. Co. (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 1230) Facts Deere & Company is … Read More

A California appellate court has held that there was sufficient evidence to support a punitive damage award against an insurer for bad faith delay in paying its insured’s claim for underinsured motorist benefits. (Mazik v. GEICO General Ins. Co. (2019) — Cal.App.5th … Read More

A California appellate court has broadly interpreted a subcontractor’s “duty to defend” a developer pursuant to the terms of an indemnity clause in the parties’ contract. (Centex Homes v. R-Help Construction Co., Inc. (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 1230) Facts Centex Homes hired R-Help … Read More

A legal heir was entitled to recover uninsured motorist benefits only under an automobile policy, not under an umbrella policy. (Komorsky v. Farmers Insurance Exchange (2019) — Cal.App.5th —) Facts Alan and Linda Liker, husband and wife, were named insureds on an … Read More

After a developer obtained an approximately $1.5 million default judgment against a subcontractor, the developer’s excess liability insurer prevailed in a judgment creditor action against the subcontractor’s general liability insurer. (Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. American Safety Indemnity … Read More

An uninsured motorist policy allowed an insurer to reduce payments to an insured by the amount of medical expenses that were eligible for payment through workers’ compensation, regardless of whether the insured actually sought payment of those expenses through workers’ … Read More

In a plaintiff’s personal injury action brought against a deceased insured’s estate pursuant to Probate Code sections 550 et seq., the deceased insured’s liability insurer was a de facto “party” that could be liable for costs after rejecting the plaintiff’s … Read More

A trial court properly granted an insurer’s motion to set aside default judgments against its insured based on the equitable ground of extrinsic mistake. (Mechling v. Asbestos Defendants (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 1241) Facts From the 1960’s through the early 1970’s, Associated Insulation … Read More

The insurer of a developer whose corporate powers were “suspended” was barred from pursuing a subrogation action against the developer’s subcontractors. (Travelers Property Casualty Company of America v. Engel Insulation, Inc. (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 830) Facts Westlake Villas, LLC was the developer … Read More

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A general liability policy covering “loss of use of property that is not physically injured” covered an insured whose negligence led to the claimant’s loss of ability to continue using its property as a nightclub. (Thee Sombrero, Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance … Read More

A party-appointed appraiser is an “arbitrator” and is barred from giving evidence about the appraisal proceeding, except for evidence that the award was procured by “corruption, fraud, or other undue means” or that the members of the panel “exceeded their … Read More

A general liability policy’s “impaired property” exclusion relieved an insurer of any duty to defend an insured against a suit alleging that the insured had negligently installed electrical equipment which caused a loss of use of the claimant’s property. (All Green … Read More

An automobile liability policy’s “each person” limit applied to all damages, including loss of consortium damages, arising from bodily injury to one person. (Jones v. IDS Property Casualty Insurance Co. (2018) Cal.App.5th 2018 WL 4579767) Facts Mark Jones was seriously injured in … Read More