2003, 2004, 2005 - In Review
2003, 2004, 2005 – (Happy new year!) It is difficult to keep up with that Mike Aylward – especially when he is in a reminiscing-kind of mood. But I have to add my two cents, in addition to Mike’s list, of important California decisions from these three years because of their long-lasting impact, mainly in the area of policy interpretation. Of these, 2005 was the watershed year when a number of decisions from California’s Supreme Court were based on strict and literal policy interpretation.
2003
- First party property policy with coverage for actual collapse did not cover imminent collapse – the court could not rewrite the parties’ contract. Rosen v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co. (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1070.
- Intentional misconduct may be excluded from coverage, but still may require duty to defend (depending on policy language and whether exclusion based on Ins. Code § 533). Marie Y. v. General Star Indem. Co. (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 928.
2004
- One that does not fit with the others summarized here is a decision that the underlying indemnity agreement must be considered along with the insurance policy provisions when determining indemnity and contribution rights. Hartford Cas. v. Mt. Hawley Ins. Co. (2004) 123 Cal.App.4th 278.
2005
- Whether there is an obligation to pay defense costs under umbrella policies when there is no duty under the underlying primary policies because there is no “suit” depends on the policy’s language - in particular the insuring agreement and definition of ultimate net loss. Powerine v. Superior Court (2005) 37 Cal.4th 377; County of San Diego v. ACE Property & Cas. Co. (2005) 37 Cal.4th 406.
- The pollution exclusion still does exclude coverage, here silica dust, in the wake of MacKinnon. Garamendi v. Golden Eagle Ins. Co. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 480.
- Even with California’s efficient proximate cause law which decidely favors policy-holders, a weather conditions exclusion in a property policy precluded coverage. Julian v. Hartford Underwriters (2005) 35 Cal.4th 747.
