Mealey's California Insurance : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's California Insurance

November 20, 2024
Stipulation Approved In Bishop’s Row With Insurers Over Sex Abuse Suit Coverage

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge filed a docket-only order granting the parties’ stipulation seeking to reschedule a case management conference in a suit filed by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, Calif., against numerous insurers and the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA), which the plaintiff believes assumed responsibilities for its now-insolvent insurer, seeking a declaratory judgment stating that the plaintiff is entitled to a defense and indemnity regarding covered claims for the more than 300 suits filed against it related to alleged clergy sexual abuse.
November 20, 2024
Insurers: Auto Makers Failed To Recall Vehicles With Potential Deadly Defects

SANTA ANA, Calif.— Automobile and property insurers filed a subrogation lawsuit on behalf of their insureds against automotive manufacturers, telling a California court that the defendants “purposefully and knowingly failed to recall millions of their defective vehicles” that contained “potentially deadly defects” and, as a result, put “countless lives at risk from 2006 to date” and caused their insureds to suffer property damage including the loss of use of their vehicles.
November 19, 2024
Compelling Arbitration, Judge Says MOU Is ‘Closely Related’ To Reinsurance Contract

LOS ANGELES — Concluding that a 1984 memorandum of understanding (MOU) is “closely related to the reinsurance contract and not a completely separate agreement,” a California federal judge granted reinsurers’ motion to compel arbitration in a lawsuit over reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims.
November 18, 2024
Insured’s Snow-Damage Suit Remanded To State Court Based On Lack Of Diversity

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge remanded an insured’s suit to California state court after determining that complete diversity of citizenship does not exist based on the insured’s naming of an insurance agency as a defendant in a second amended complaint, which alleges breach of contract, bad faith and negligence claims based on the property insurer’s denial of coverage for the partial collapse of an insured building’s roof.
November 18, 2024
Judge: CGL Insurer Has No Duty To Indemnify Contractor For Negligent Work Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment seeking a declaration that it has no duty to indemnify its contractor insured against an underlying lawsuit alleging the insured performed negligent contractor work, finding there are no triable questions of material fact and coverage is excluded for the damages alleged in the underlying lawsuit.
November 14, 2024
Citing Loper Bright, Farm Seeks U.S. High Court Review Of Crop Insurance Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing that Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo should have prevented the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals from deferring to a regulatory interpretation of the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC), a farm petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a crop insurance case.
November 14, 2024
Calif. Panel: Defense Costs Not Restitutionary Damages In D&O Coverage Dispute

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California appeals panel reversed a lower court’s ruling in favor of an excess directors and officers liability insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit brought by an insured and its former chief financial officer, rejecting the insurer’s argument that the insured’s claim for underlying defense costs is the substantial equivalent of “restitutionary damages.”
November 14, 2024
Homeowners Insurer’s Request For 2nd Examination Under Oath Not Unreasonable

LOS ANGELES — A trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to a homeowners insurer on breach of contract and bad faith claims because the insurer did not act unreasonably in requesting a second examination under oath from the insured and the insured breached the duty to cooperate with the insurer as required under the policy, a California appellate court said.
November 13, 2024
Panel: Jury’s Finding Of Defamation Established Willful Act, No Coverage Owed

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 12 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for a $4,941,071 judgment in a defamation action brought by its former employee, finding that the underlying jury's finding of defamation per se established a willful act under California Insurance Code Section 533.
November 12, 2024
Insurers Say Kia, Hyundai Disregarded Dangerous Defects For Years

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Several insurers filed a complaint in subrogation in California state court accusing the makers of Kia and Hyundai-brand cars of causing insureds harm in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to report or recall vehicles with dangerous electrical defects, including spontaneously catching fire while deactivated.
November 12, 2024
California Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Vicarious Liability Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a homeowners insurer in an insured’s lawsuit alleging that the insurer was vicariously liable for the negligence of an insurance agent that resulted in the insured’s underinsurance for a fire loss to her Malibu property under a California FAIR Plan Association insurance policy, concluding that the insured failed to present evidence that raises a triable issue as to whether the agent was the defendant insurer’s agent when she assisted the insured in procuring the FAIR Plan policy.
November 12, 2024
Judge Denies Insurer’s Request To Transfer Silica Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to transfer an insured’s suit seeking coverage for underlying bodily injury suits arising out of silica dust exposure to Minnesota federal court where a similar suit filed by the insurer is pending because the insured’s California federal suit was filed prior to the insurer’s Minnesota suit.
November 11, 2024
Appraisal Award Partly Vacated, Counterclaim Dismissed In Wildfire Coverage Suit

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted in part a homeowners insurer’s motion to vacate a more than $33 million appraisal award in a coverage dispute over damage caused by the Glass Fire in Northern California, further granting the insureds’ motion to dismiss the insurer’s counterclaim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
November 07, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Alleged Sexual Assault By Insured, 9th Circuit Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that an insurer owes no coverage for an underlying sexual assault action brought against the insured, affirming the lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.
November 06, 2024
Theft Claim Is Time-Barred By Policy’s Limitations Period, Panel Affirms

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a man’s $126,000 theft claim is time-barred by his homeowners insurance policy’s one-year limitations period, rejecting the insured’s contention that California’s Emergency Rule 9 tolls the limitations provision.
November 05, 2024
California Federal Judge Enters Final Judgment, Allows Appeal Of Insured’s Claim

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a joint motion for entry of final judgment on an insured’s declaratory judgment claim in the insured’s suit seeking coverage for groundwater contamination discovered at a local airport, providing the insured the opportunity to appeal the ruling on the claim, which seeks a determination on the insured’s entitlement to coverage for future contamination costs.
November 05, 2024
Judge Refuses To Dismiss Insurer’s Suit Disputing Coverage For Negligence Claims

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California refused to dismiss an insurer’s lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit brought against its interior designer insured, finding that its duty to hear the declaratory claims is mandatory because the insurer also seeks reimbursement from its insured for the underlying defense costs.
November 04, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Equitable Contribution Suit After Insurers Reach Settlement

SAN DIEGO — The same day the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss, a federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice the insurer’s lawsuit seeking equitable contribution from another insurer after it was left to defend a subcontractor against underlying claims that it installed faulty concrete in a parking garage.
October 31, 2024
Judge Grants Final Approval To Nearly $20M Settlement Of Ticket Insurance Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a nearly $20 million settlement resolving claims that insurers including Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws in relation to its online marketing of travel and event insurance, with the plaintiffs’ attorneys awarded nearly $5 million in attorney fees.
October 30, 2024
Arbitration Bid Fought In Reinsurance Billing Row Involving MOU

LOS ANGELES — Urging a California federal court to reject an arbitration bid in a lawsuit over reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims, an insurer contends that the abstention doctrine doesn’t apply and that the arbitration clause is in a different agreement than the one at issue and doesn’t include the present billing dispute.
October 28, 2024
Denial Of Coverage For Failed Water Pipe Was Not Bad Faith, Panel Says

PASADENA, Calif. — A district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer on a bad faith claim because no reasonable juror could find that the insurer’s denial of coverage based on its policy’s exclusion for continuous or repeated seepage or leakage of water was unreasonable, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 25 in an unpublished opinion.
October 28, 2024
Insurer Asks California Court To Dismiss Subrogation Suit Against Roofer

LOS ANGELES — An insurer seeks dismissal with prejudice of its entire subrogation lawsuit against a roofer in a case that was consolidated with a condominium homeowners association’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from storm damage to the roof of a Studio City building that housed 31 luxury condominiums.
October 24, 2024
Panel Says Auto Insurer’s Request For Liability Release Was Not Bad Faith Conduct

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling that an auto insurer did not act in bad faith by requiring a signed release of liability for a relative of an insured because the auto insurer’s request for the release of liability was not unreasonable based on the insurer’s determination that the insured’s relative was an additional insured under its auto policy.
October 24, 2024
Driver’s Claims For Larger COVID-19 Refunds Properly Dismissed, 9th Circuit Told

SAN FRANCISCO — GEICO in an Oct. 23 appellee brief tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a federal judge properly granted summary judgment on an insured driver’s class action claim against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by providing drivers an insufficient rebate on premiums after COVID-19, arguing that its rebate was fair under the relevant policy and state insurance regulations.
October 22, 2024
Remand Dispute In Reinsurance Row Focuses On Joint Powers Authority

LOS ANGELES — Whether a joint powers authority (JPA) is a citizen of California for purposes of diversity jurisdiction is disputed in a California federal court lawsuit over a reinsurer’s denial of coverage for litigation arising from sexual abuse allegations, with the JPA urging remand in its reply brief.