Insurance

An insurer may waive the insured's forfeiture of the policy through non-payment of the premium even though a loss has occurred during the period between lapse of the policy due to non-payment and reinstatement upon late payment of the premium.  The loss-in-progress rule (Ins. Code 22, 250) does not prevent the insurer from waiving the forfeiture in this situation because… Read More

Ins. Code 533.5 provides that no insurer (no matter what the insurance policy says) owes any duty to indemnify or defend a suit by the Attorney General, a district attorney or city or county counsel to recover a fine, penalty or restitution for a violation of B&P Code 17200 or 17500.  This decision holds that the statute does not violate… Read More

Over a vigorous dissent, the majority holds that the adult daughter of the insureds under this homeowner's insurance policy does not have standing to sue the insurer for bad faith in regard to coverage for damage to the daughter's personal property that was damaged while in the insured premises.  Only the parents were named insureds under the policy, which expressly… Read More

Kaiser adequately proved that Kuntz's decedent enrolled with Kaiser under a CalPERS medical insurance plan which included an arbitration clause.  Kaiser showed that CalPERS keeps the individual enrollment forms, just sending Kaiser electronic enrollment information.  Kaiser's electronic enrollment information showed that Kuntz's decedent had been enrolled in the Kaiser health plan continuously since 1983.  Kaiser was not required to show… Read More

For purposes of unemployment insurance, the test set forth in G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341 governs the determination whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, not the more employee-friendly ABC test of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903.  Nevertheless, in this case, substantial… Read More

An insurer may be liable in bad faith if it fails to settle within policy limits when given the opportunity to do so.  This decision holds that to pursue a bad faith claim on that basis, it is not necessary for the insured to show that the claimant actually make a demand for settlement at or under policy limits.  Following… Read More

Ins. Code 12414.26 does not immunize a title insurer from liability with respect to rates it has not filed with the Insurance Commissioner.  The section provides:  “No act done, action taken, or agreement made pursuant to the authority conferred by Article 5.5 [dealing with rate filing and regulation] . . . of this chapter shall constitute a violation of or… Read More

It is not per se a breach of the insurer's duty of good faith for it to fail to accept a reasonable settlement offer within policy limits.  Accordingly, to support a bad faith judgment against the insurer, the jury must find that the insurer acted unreasonably in rejecting (or failing to accept) even a reasonable settlement offer within policy limits. … Read More

Following Lippitt v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC (C.D.Cal. 2020) 2020 U.S. Dist. Lexis 122881, this decision holds that Civ. Code 2954.8 does not apply to (or require payment of interest on) hazard insurance proceeds that a lender or loan servicer holds pending the borrower/insured's rebulding or repairing the premises that secures his loan.  Section 2954.8 “applies to common escrows maintained to… Read More

Having secured a default judgment against the contractor that build a retaining wall on adjacent property which collapsed damaging plaintiff's property, plaintiff sued the contractor's general liability insurer.  This decision holds that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment in the insurer's favor.  The insurance policy was an occurrence policy.  With a continuing loss, coverage attaches when the damage… Read More