Reasonable Interpretation of Statute Does Not Preclude Triable Issue of Fact on Insurance Bad Faith Claim
A recent California Court of Appeals decision sought to clarify the application of California Insurance Code Section 533.5(b) concerning the statute’s preclusion of an insurer’s duty to defend its insured in criminal actions. In Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. v. Richard Lopez, Jr.,__Cal.App.4th___, 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 346 (May 1, 2013) the Court of Appeals held that Section 533.5 (b) is not applicable to criminal actions brought by federal prosecuting authorities, and thus is limited to precluding the insurer’s duty to defend its insured in state criminal actions brought by the Attorney General, any district attorney, any city prosecutor, or any county counsel. The Court importantly held that the insurer’s Motion for Adjudication of the insured’s bad faith claim should be denied given the insurer’s potentially unreasonable actions even though the insurer gave a reasonable interpretation to an insurance code section.
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Under certain circumstances, an insurer has the right to intervene in a case against its insured to protect its own rights and to avoid harm to the insurer. These circumstances usually involve cases where an insured is either prevented from appearing and defending, or simply chooses not to and a default is taken against the insured. The recent case Western Heritage Insurance Company v. Superior Court, __ Cal. App. 4th __ (Oct. 11, 2011), addresses the second set of circumstances, and provides an examination of California intervention law and holds that an insurer has the right to intervene in a case and take over in litigation if an insured is not defending the action, and may contest both liability and damages while doing so.
Gaylord owns and operates a livestock operation, raising his own cattle and raising cattle for others. In June 2008 some of the cattle die suddenly. By September and October 2008 cattle begin dying at an alarming rate. Gaylord suspects feed poisoning. Autopsies and feed testing confirm that the cattle are dying from liver failure caused by toxic plants in the alfalfa feed. There is no known cure, so Gaylord gets permission from the Department of Agriculture to sell the cattle off for early slaughter—but at a financial loss for Gaylord and the other cattle owners. 



