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

Mealey's California Insurance

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.
October 22, 2024
Contamination Exclusion Bars Coverage For COVID-19 Losses, Federal Judge Says

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An all-risk policy’s contamination exclusion bars coverage for losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic because a California appellate panel’s determination that a contamination exclusion bars coverage for COVID-19 losses is binding and warrants the same finding in a similar suit filed by insureds in federal court, a California federal judge said Oct. 21 in granting an insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
October 21, 2024
Reinsurers Move To Compel Arbitration In Billings Dispute Involving MOU

LOS ANGELES — Arguing that a dispute over reinsurance billings arising from asbestos bodily injury claims falls within the scope of the “broad” arbitration agreement in the excess of loss reinsurance treaty at issue, reinsurers in an Oct. 18 motion ask a California federal court to compel arbitration and dismiss or stay the case.
October 14, 2024
Judgment Granted For Vehicle Insurer In Fraud Suit Over Driver Misrepresentation

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted summary judgment to a motor carrier insurer in its suit seeking a determination that it is entitled to rescind its insured’s policy due to the insured’s material misrepresentation in his policy application where he omitted listing as a driver his employee who was killed in a motor vehicle accident while driving one of the insured’s vehicles.
October 14, 2024
Insurer Asks 9th Circuit To Reconsider Ruling In Sex Trafficking Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A commercial insurer filed a petition seeking rehearing of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ Sept. 25 ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of its declaratory judgment arising from an underlying multidistrict litigation alleging that the insured is liable under Texas’ sex trafficking statutes, challenging the panel’s finding that its duty to defend has not been extinguished because the underlying claims may impose liability on the insured that triggers coverage.
October 14, 2024
Judge Denies Summary Judgment In UCL Suit Over Insurer’s Liability Under Lost Policy

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on Oct. 11 denied 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 and claims to be an insured under a policy, the physical copies of which neither party possesses.
October 11, 2024
Judge Vacates Trial In Equitable Contribution Suit After Parties Announce Settlement

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California vacated a trial scheduled for Nov. 19 in an 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, noting that the parties indicated they have reached a settlement.
October 10, 2024
California Bishop Amends Complaint, Seeks Insurance Coverage For Sex Abuse Suits

SAN FRANCISCO — The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, Calif., filed a fifth amended declaratory judgment and breach of statutory duty complaint in a California federal court 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.
October 10, 2024
9th Circuit Unseals Driver’s Brief Challenging GEICO’s ‘Unfair’ COVID-19 Rebates

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unsealed a brief filed by a driver appealing a federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on her class action claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) to GEICO for allegedly unfairly retaining an estimated $238 million in additional premium relief the driver says it owed insureds after the COVID-19 pandemic.