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Mealey's California Insurance

  • March 07, 2025

    No E&O Coverage Owed For Negligence Claim, 9th Circuit Affirms

    PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 6 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an email exchange a year before an errors and omissions insurance policy’s inception put the insured on notice of circumstances reasonably expected to lead to a claim and, therefore, the insurer has no duty to defend an underlying negligence claim.

  • March 07, 2025

    California Federal Judge Says Claimant Met Burden Of Proving She Is Disabled

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A disability claimant is owed more than $81,000 in long-term disability (LTD) benefits and is entitled to future LTD benefits because the claimant met her burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that she is disabled from performing the duties of any occupation as a result of ongoing cognitive and physical effects caused by chemotherapy treatment, a California federal judge said in granting judgment in favor of the claimant.

  • March 05, 2025

    Fact Witness Testimony Limited In RESPA Class Suit Over Captive Reinsurance Pacts

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California barred a fact witness in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) case from providing opinion testimony based on scientific, technical or specialized knowledge but allowed testimony regarding performed analysis and data review in connection with risk transfer and reinsurance services that he and a partner were hired to provide.

  • March 04, 2025

    Furniture Delivery Company Asks 9th Circuit To Rehear UCL Coverage Dispute

    PASADENA, Calif. — A furniture delivery company insured has asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that an insurer has no duty to defend it against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, challenging the appeal court’s affirmation of a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.

  • March 03, 2025

    Choice-Of-Law Ruling Issued In Disability Insurance Suit In Federal Court

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Granting an insurer’s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a suit challenging the discontinuation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a Connecticut federal judge ruled that the “tort, equity, and contract claims under the common law are not governed by California law” and that three California and North Carolina statutory claims fail as a matter of law.

  • February 27, 2025

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Proceed In Storm Damage Coverage Suit

    LOS ANGELES — Summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer on breach of contract and bad faith claims is not warranted in a dispute over coverage for storm damages because the  parties have not conducted any discovery, a California federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion.

  • February 24, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Dismiss Construction Company’s Cross-Claims Against CGL Insurer

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a construction company insured’s cross-claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and equitable contribution as assignee of an excess insurer that funded its $2,250,000 settlement of an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • February 24, 2025

    Default Judgment Entered Against Employer In Suit Over COBRA Notice

    SAN DIEGO — Ruling in part that “failure to provide proper COBRA [Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act] notice and its misrepresentations to Plaintiff [was] the actual and proximate cause of Plaintiff’s injuries,” a California federal judge entered default judgment against an employer on negligence and negligent misrepresentation claims, awarding the plaintiff nearly $500,000 in compensatory damages plus interest and costs but denying attorney fees.

  • February 24, 2025

    Judgment Entered In CGL Insurer’s Favor After Parties Announce Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California entered judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer after the insured and its construction company insured notified the court that they have settled the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • February 18, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Subcontractor’s Suit Against Insurer After Parties Settle

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice a subcontractor insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit against its commercial liability insurer one day after the parties indicated that they have executed their settlement agreement.

  • February 14, 2025

    Panel: No Coverage For Unfair Competition Suit Against Furniture Delivery Company

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that an insurer has no duty to defend its furniture delivery company insured against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.

  • February 13, 2025

    Negligent Misrepresentation Claim Cannot Proceed Against Insurance Agency

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted an insurance agency’s motion to dismiss a negligent misrepresentation claim in a breach of contract and bad faith suit arising out of the denial of a fire damage claim because the insureds failed to provide any specific information regarding the agent who allegedly made a misrepresentation and failed to provide any details regarding the insureds’ interaction with the agent.

  • February 13, 2025

    Triable Issues Exist As To Whether Insurer Paid Attorney Fees As Part Of Settlement

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that there are triable issues regarding whether a plaintiff insurer paid any of tenants’ attorney fees as part of the settlement of an underlying lawsuit alleging substandard conditions at the insured’s 28-unit apartment building, reversing the lower court’s judgment as to the summary adjudication of the plaintiff insurer’s claims for declaratory relief and reimbursement of alleged attorney fees that it paid in the underlying settlement, vacating the award and affirming the judgment in all other respects.

  • February 11, 2025

    Insurer Says No Coverage Due For Underlying Toxic Exposure Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A commercial general liability insurer filed suit in California federal court, seeking a declaration that no coverage is owed for an underlying suit alleging that exposure to the insured’s hair styling straightening products caused individuals to be diagnosed with cancer and leukemia because the insured failed to provide timely notice of the suit and had knowledge before the issuance of the policy that its products were unsafe.

  • February 11, 2025

    No Additional Coverage Owed For Insured’s Lost Income Caused By Water Leaks

    PASADENA, Calif. — A district court did not err in confirming an appraisal award and in granting summary judgment in favor of an insurer because the insurer paid the insured more than the amount owed under the policy for lost income incurred as a result of a series of water leaks in the insured’s medical office building, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal said.

  • February 10, 2025

    California Panel Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Wildfire Coverage Dispute

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that a homeowners insurance policy did not cover the insureds’ claim for wildfire damage to their home, affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insurer on the insureds’ claims for breach of contract and bad faith.

  • February 07, 2025

    Corporate Attorney Alleges Disability Insurer Failed To Conduct Full, Fair Review

    LOS ANGELES — A disability insurer failed to conduct a full and fair review of a corporate attorney’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim because the insurer failed to address how the attorney’s physical disabilities contributed to her inability to perform her duties as a corporate attorney, the plan participant says in a Feb. 6 complaint filed in California federal court.

  • February 05, 2025

    Oral Surgeon Says Disability Benefits Owed Based On Danger Of Contracting COVID-19

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a district court’s ruling in favor of a disability insurer because the lower court erred in failing to acknowledge that an oral surgeon’s return to work would endanger his life and health based on his risk of contracting COVID-19 and suffering complications from the virus based on comorbid conditions of asthma and hypertension, the surgeon says in his appellant reply brief.

  • February 04, 2025

    Judge: Subcontractors’, Contractor’s Insurers Owe Defense In Gym Water Leak Suit

    LOS ANGELES — The “broad duty to defend” was triggered for both a contractor and two subcontractors in an underlying suit over damage from a water leak, a California federal judge found, leading her to partly grant the subcontractors’ motions to dismiss the commercial general liability (CGL) insurer’s suit seeking declarations that it was not obligated to provide coverage.

  • February 03, 2025

    Judge Addresses Exclusion, Summary Judgment Bids In Long-Running RESPA Suit

    FRESNO, Calif. — Under Jan. 31 orders that a judge sitting by designation in California federal court issued, a combined Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. hearing and bench trial on economic harm will be the next development in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action involving captive reinsurance agreements.

  • February 03, 2025

    Federal Judge Denies CGL Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss 2 Of Contractor’s Claims

    OAKLAND, Calif.— A federal judge in California denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a licensed general contractor insured’s claims for declaratory relief for the appointment of Cumis counsel and punitive damages in his lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that the work on a renovation project was negligent.

  • January 31, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Public Disclosure Bar Dismissal In FCA Medicare Fraud Row

    SAN JOSE, Calif. —  The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a qui tam relator’s suit accusing pharmaceutical companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by overcharging the federal government and states under Medicare and Medicaid, finding that the relator waived his argument that the public disclosure bar is inapplicable.

  • January 28, 2025

    Insurers Owe Defense, Indemnity For Underlying PFAS, AFFF Suits, Insured Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — An insured maintains in its reply in support of its partial motion for summary judgment, filed in California federal court, that its insurers owe coverage for underlying bodily injury and property damage lawsuits related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allegedly contained in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) that were manufactured, sold and distributed by the insured because the underlying suits are potentially covered under the policies and the insurers failed to prove that their policies’ pollution exclusion bars coverage.

  • January 27, 2025

    Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer, Agent In Camp Fire Coverage Dispute

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court on Jan. 24 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a homeowners insurer and an insurance agent in a negligence lawsuit arising from the November 2018 Camp Fire, concluding that the agent’s alleged misrepresentations pertain to the scope of coverage under an insurance policy that was no longer in effect at the time of the wildfire loss.

  • January 24, 2025

    Reality TV Stars Sue Los Angeles, Public Utility To Recover Palisades Fire Losses

    LOS ANGELES — Realty television stars Spencer and Heidi Pratt and others sued Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for inverse condemnation in a California court, alleging that the Palisades Fire that began on Jan. 7 “was an inescapable and unavoidable consequence of the water supply system servicing areas in and around Pacific Palisades” and that the defendants’ operation of the system and related infrastructure was a substantial cause of their damages.