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

Mealey's California Insurance

December 05, 2022
Judge Denies Insurer’s Motion For New Trial In Equipment Loss Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California federal denied a commercial property insurer’s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law and/or motion for a new trial in an equipment breakdown coverage dispute after determining that expert testimony submitted by the insured was admissible and that the time limits imposed by the court during trial were proper.
December 05, 2022
Illinois Law Applies To Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims In Disability Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California judge determined that Illinois law must be applied to breach of contract and bad faith claims in a suit filed against a disability income insurer because the policy was issued in Illinois, includes a choice-of-law provision designating Illinois law as the applicable law and does not contravene any fundamental policy of California.
December 02, 2022
Federal Judge Refuses To Dismiss Napa Wineries’ Wildfire Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for property damage to its Napa County wineries caused by two wildfires, rejecting the insurer’s contention that the complaint is neither ripe nor sufficient.
December 02, 2022
Insureds’ Bad Faith Claim Stemming From Wildfire Damage Cannot Proceed

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a commercial property insurer’s motion to dismiss a bad faith claim alleged by insureds in a dispute over coverage for property damages incurred by a 2018 wildfire because the insureds failed to allege sufficient facts in support of their argument that the insurer unreasonably withheld benefits owed under the policy.
December 01, 2022
Contractor Appeals Dismissal Of Faulty Workmanship Coverage Suit To 9th Circuit

LOS ANGELES — A subcontractor will appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the dismissal of its coverage dispute with its commercial general liability insurer stemming from the faulty installation of a foundation system for a new airport concourse and related improvements at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), according to a notice of appeal filed in California federal court.
December 01, 2022
California Judge Cites FAA In Declining To Compel Consolidated Arbitration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Noting that the arbitration provision in one agreement specifies that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies, a California judge denied a joint powers authority’s request to compel consolidated arbitration proceedings in a coverage dispute involving two reinsurers.
November 29, 2022
9th Circuit Dismisses Disability Insurer’s Appeal Pursuant To Stipulation

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a disability insurer’s appeal of a district court’s judgment entered in favor of a disability claimant following the disability insurer’s filing of a stipulation to dismiss the appeal with prejudice.
November 23, 2022
District Court Improperly Engaged In New Determination Of Claimant’s Disability

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a district court’s finding that a disability insurer correctly denied a claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits must be reversed because the court improperly engaged in a new determination regarding the claimant’s disability rather than simply examining the insurer’s rationale for denying the benefits claim.
November 23, 2022
Settlement Agreement Noted In Mortgage Loan, Force-Placed Insurance Row

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The remaining parties in a putative class suit over home mortgage loan servicing and a reinsurance program in which the claims surviving dismissal include violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) have reached an unspecified settlement, they tell a California federal court in a Nov. 22 joint notice.
November 23, 2022
Judge Dismisses In Row Over LTC Insurance, Finds No Elder Abuse In Coverage Denial

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a long-term care (LTC) insurer’s dismissal motion in a breach of contract and elder abuse suit filed against it by an insured seeking coverage for his stay at a residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE), finding that the policy provisions were sufficient to provide the insured with notice of coverage limitations and that the elder abuse claim failed because the insured was not deprived of personal property since the insurer “properly” denied benefits.
November 22, 2022
Pollution Exclusions Bar Coverage For Underlying Contamination Judgment

LOS ANGELES — No coverage is afforded for an underlying judgment entered against an insured in an environmental contamination dispute because pollution exclusions included in the applicable policies clearly bar coverage, a California federal judge said in entering summary judgment for the insurers.
November 21, 2022
Judge Conditionally Dismisses Insurer’s Tile Defects Coverage Suit

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California issued a conditional order dismissing with prejudice a breach of contract insurance action filed by an insurer against additional insured subcontractors and others related to an underlying action against a general contractor alleging defective tile installation at a housing development after the remaining parties agreed to settle their claims.
November 21, 2022
Insurer Acted In Bad Faith In Denying Claim For Water Damages, Insureds Say

LOS ANGELES — A homeowners insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith by denying coverage for $200,000 worth of water damage sustained in an insured home and should be ordered to pay $2 million in punitive damages, the insureds maintain in a complaint filed in California state court.
November 18, 2022
California High Court Answers Certified Question In Yahoo’s TCPA Coverage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Nov. 17 answered a certified question from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a coverage dispute between Yahoo! Inc. and its commercial general liability insurer arising from claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), finding that the CGL policy language at issue can cover liability for right-of-seclusion violations assuming “such coverage is consistent with the insured's objectively reasonable expectations.”
November 16, 2022
GEICO Seeks To Appeal UCL Class Certification In COVID Premium Credit Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — GEICO petitioned the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for permission to appeal a “deeply problematic” ruling certifying a class of automotive policy holders who say GEICO violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by profiting from a premium giveback program initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, writing that certification was based on a flawed expert report that should have been excluded.
November 16, 2022
Insurer Disputes Coverage For Cyberstalking Suit Against EBay, Directors And Officers

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A commercial umbrella liability insurer filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit in a California federal court, disputing coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that eBay and its directors and officers “engaged in a coordinated effort to intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the underlying plaintiffs “in order to stifle their reporting on eBay.”
November 15, 2022
Insurer Counterclaims In Administrator’s Suit Over Fee Calculation, Payment

LOS ANGELES — Answering a complaint by an administrative service provider that allegedly mistakenly underpaid itself by approximately $40 million, an insurer on Nov. 14 counterclaimed in California federal court for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty and argued in part that the provider is obligated to indemnify the insurer.
November 14, 2022
Insureds Not Permitted To File Amended Complaint In Bad Faith, Wildfire Damage Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion for leave to file a third-amended complaint to add a claim for injunctive relief by insureds who claim their insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith by refusing to cover damages caused to their refrigerators by power outages during a California wildfire because the insureds have an adequate legal remedy for damages based on their contract claims.
November 11, 2022
Claimant Met Burden Of Showing Own-Occupation Benefits Are Owed

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A disability claimant is entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits under a plan’s own-occupation standard because the evidence supports a finding that the claimant was disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation; however, the disability insurer must determine on remand if the claimant qualifies for LTD benefits under the plan’s any-occupation standard, a California federal judge said.
November 10, 2022
Disability Claimant Entitled To LTD Benefits For Heart Condition, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — A disability claimant is entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits because the medical evidence supports a finding that the claimant was totally disabled and the disability insurer failed to consider how work-related stress could negatively contribute to the claimant’s heart condition, a California federal judge said.
November 10, 2022
Heart Attack Patient’s UCL Fraud Claims Against Insurer Insufficient, Judge Says

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed with prejudice claims that a travel insurance policy provider committed promissory fraud and violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by not approving medical coverage for a heart attack patient on vacation to Chile for five days, finding that the plaintiff failed to plead intent to defraud but may pursue a breach of contract claim.
November 09, 2022
Assignee Tells 9th Circuit It Stepped In Provider’s Shoes, Has Viable ERISA Claim

PASADENA, Calif. — A district court judge ignored precedent the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals cited in reversing a previous dismissal on standing grounds and then changed its mind for unknown reasons and found the claims insufficient, a group assigned the rights of a now-defunct health and substance abuse care provider argues.
November 07, 2022
Reports Accidentally Produced By Insurer In Contamination Suit Are Not Discoverable

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — An insured seeking coverage for groundwater contamination at a county airport is not entitled to three reports regarding the contamination and prepared at the insurer’s request because the reports, which were inadvertently produced by the insurer during discovery, are clearly protected by the attorney-client privilege and the insurer did not waive its right to assert that privilege, a California federal magistrate judge said in denying insured’s motion seeking a determination that the reports are not subject to privilege or immunity.
November 07, 2022
No Certiorari For Discovery, Deposition, Questions In Uninsured Motorist Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A pro se petitioner who raised four questions regarding depositions, discovery and the statute of limitations over uninsured motorist (UM) insurance coverage for a 2009 auto accident saw his petition for certiorari denied without comment by the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 7.
November 07, 2022
Bad Faith Claim Against Disability Insurer To Proceed Under California Law

SAN DIEGO — A bad faith claim against a disability insurer will proceed because applying Illinois law would be contrary to California’s fundamental policy of providing a remedy for insurance bad faith, a California federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion to dismiss the bad faith claim.