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