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Mealey's California Insurance

  • January 17, 2025

    Issues Of Fact Exist As To Cause Of Insureds’ Shutdown During Wildfires

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge partially denied an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a breach of contract and bad faith case filed by insureds seeking additional coverage for business losses incurred as a result of wildfires after determining that issues of fact exist as to whether two of the insureds’ businesses were forced to close for a period of time because of soot and ash damages from the fires.

  • January 15, 2025

    Questions Of Fact Exist On Disability Insurer’s Initial Denial Of LTD Claim

    SAN FRANCISCO — A bad faith claim alleged against a disability insurer can proceed because questions of fact exist on the issue of whether the insurer’s initial denial of a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was reasonable based on the evidence available to the insurer, a California federal judge said.

  • January 14, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Reconsider Ruling On Request To Transfer Silica Coverage Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to reconsider a ruling on the denial of the insurer’s request to transfer an insured’s suit seeking coverage for underlying bodily injury suits arising out of silica dust exposure to Minnesota federal court because the insurer failed to show that there are new issues of material fact that were not previously considered by the court.

  • January 13, 2025

    Judge Amends Summary Judgment Order Over Insurer’s Liability Under Lost Policy

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge amended his previous order denying an insurer’s motion for summary judgment on a suit brought against it for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by the successor-in-interest to a school that is being sued for a 1976 sexual assault of a student by a teacher, writing that the order conflated which policy was lost and which one the insurer conceded issuing.

  • January 13, 2025

    Bid For Review Of 9th Circuit Crop Insurance Ruling Under Loper Bright Fails

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Jan. 13 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a certiorari petition in which a farm argued 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) in a crop insurance case.

  • January 10, 2025

    Disability Insurer Wrongfully Terminated Benefits, Woman With Long COVID Says

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A woman who was diagnosed with long COVID filed suit on Jan. 9 in California federal court against her disability insurer, alleging that the insurer wrongfully terminated her long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that she was able to perform the duties of her own occupation as the director of operations at a museum.

  • January 10, 2025

    Claimant Met Burden Of Showing She Is Disabled From Own Occupation, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a disability claimant’s motion for judgment and denied a disability insurer’s motion for judgment after determining that the disability claimant met her burden of proving that she is disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation.

  • January 08, 2025

    Biopharmaceutical Company, Insurer Stipulate To Dismiss D&O Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — After announcing that a settlement has been reached in principle, a biopharmaceutical company insured and its insurer filed a joint stipulation to dismiss a directors and officers liability coverage dispute arising from a lawsuit brought by the insured’s former employee.

  • January 06, 2025

    Some Defendants Reach Undisclosed Settlement In Jet Coverage Lawsuit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A few defendants have been dismissed with prejudice from an international aviation insurance coverage dispute involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pursuant to a confidential settlement approved by a California state court judge.

  • January 06, 2025

    Citing Wildfire Risks, California Issues Net Cost Of Reinsurance Regulation

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance has issued a Net Cost of Reinsurance (NCOR) in Ratemaking Regulationthat Commissioner Ricardo Lara says was prompted by insurers pulling back from the state’s property insurance market in light of the growing risk of wildfires. 

  • December 12, 2024

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Will Remain In Federal Court, Judge Says

    LOS ANGELES — Breach of contract and bad faith claims against a life insurer will proceed in California federal court because remand to state court is not warranted as complete diversity of citizenship exists, a California federal judge said after determining that the beneficiaries’ negligence claim cannot proceed against the nondiverse life insurer agent who was working in the scope of her employment for the life insurer.

  • December 12, 2024

    Judge: Assignee Lacks Standing To Recover Emotional Distress Damages From Insurer

    CHICAGO — A California federal judge held that an assignee cannot establish standing under California Insurance Code Section 11580(b)(2) to recover her emotional distress damages from an insurer as judgment creditor of her former employer, granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss her lawsuit arising from an underlying discrimination judgment in her favor but allowing the assignee leave to amend one of her claims.

  • December 11, 2024

    No Coverage Owed For Regal Cinemas’ Coronavirus Losses, 9th Circuit Affirms

    PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of insurers in Regal Cinemas’ breach of contract lawsuit seeking recovery for its revenue losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic, finding that, pursuant to New York law, Regal Cinemas was not insured for its alleged business losses.

  • December 10, 2024

    Panel: Reservation Court Has Jurisdiction In Tribe’s Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over an insurance company in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the coronavirus pandemic, affirming a lower federal court on the alterative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana’s consensual-relationship exception.

  • December 09, 2024

    California Panel: Abuse Or Molestation Exclusion Bars Coverage For Spa Owner

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that a commercial insurance policy’s “abuse or molestation” exclusion bars coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that a spa owner insured sexually assaulted and molested three of its customers during massage sessions, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer in the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit.

  • December 05, 2024

    Doctor Entitled To Almost $98K In Attorney Fees For Success On Disability Claim

    SAN FRANCISCO — A pediatrician who successfully prevailed on her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on her high risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus is entitled to $97,965 in attorney fees and $625 in costs because the pediatrician succeeded on the merits of her disability claim and the disability insurer presented no special circumstances that would warrant against an award, a California federal judge said in granting the pediatrician’s motion for attorney fees and costs.

  • December 03, 2024

    Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Amber Heard’s Counterclaims In Defamation Coverage Suit

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of Amber Heard’s breach of contract and bad faith counterclaims in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit alleging that it has no duty to defend or indemnify her for a defamation judgment awarded to Johnny Depp.

  • December 03, 2024

    Following John’s Grill, Panel Affirms No Coverage Ruling In COVID-19 Suit

    SAN DIEGO — Reconsidering its earlier holding in favor of a diner insured in light of John's Grill, Inc. v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., a California appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment in favor of an insurer in the diner’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • December 02, 2024

    Construction Company Alleges Bad Faith Cross-Claim Against CGL Insurer

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —A construction company insured answered a commercial general liability insurer’s first amended complaint and filed cross-claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and seeks equitable contribution as assignee of an excess insurer that funded its $2,250,000 settlement of an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • November 25, 2024

    Motion To Set Trial Date Denied Without Prejudice In Long-Running RESPA Suit

    FRESNO, Calif. — In a brief Nov. 22 text-only order, a judge sitting by designation in California federal court denied without prejudice a motion to set a trial date in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action involving captive reinsurance agreements.

  • November 22, 2024

    Insured Failed To Comply With Policy’s Notice, Warranty Provisions, Judge Says

    SAN DIEGO — No coverage is owed to a hospital company insured under a pollution liability policy for remediation of mold discovered in the insured’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems because the insured failed to comply with the policy’s warranty and notice provisions, both of which are conditions precedent to coverage, a California federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment and denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 21, 2024

    Joint Powers Authority Wins Remand Of Coverage Suit Against Reinsurer

    LOS ANGELES — Agreeing with a joint powers authority (JPA) that it “is an arm of the state and therefore is not a citizen of California or any other state” for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a California federal judge on Nov. 20 granted remand to state court of the JPA’s lawsuit over a reinsurer’s denial of coverage for litigation arising from sexual abuse allegations.

  • 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.