Page 13 - Reservation of Rights - Special Edition

2018 RESERVATION OF RIGHTS - SPECIAL EDITION
CALIFORNIA–San Diego
Elardo, Bragg & Rossi, P.C. represents primarily businesses, insurers and professionals through efficient and cost-effective litigation across Arizona and Southern California. We are known for our extensive experience in the insurance industry and civil litigation. Our practice encompasses insurance defense work in all areas, including personal and commercial litigation, construction defect, premises liability, products liability, bad faith, dram shop, professional liability and agribusiness, as well as the defense of large self-insureds.
Our firm is dedicated to representing its clients with the utmost professionalism and competence. We understand that litigation management is the cooperative effort between the client and counsel to reach an agreement on a strategy to handle claims. We work with our clients as a team throughout the life of the file.
As a team member, Elardo, Bragg & Rossi, P.C. is dedicated to: being available to address issues in
a timely fashion and making every attempt to match our client’s sense of urgency; understanding our corporate clients as a company, and learning our clients’ business models and core values; and utilizing early case assessment and case management reporting processes so our clients are informed in a timely, routine, and efficient manner.
With decades of experience in litigation and business, Elardo, Bragg & Rossi, P.C. is the firm you should trust to provide you with personal, efficient, and balanced service.
Practice Areas: Insurance Coverage and Fraud; Legal Malpractice and Professional Liability; Bad
Faith and Extra-Contractual Liability; Product Liability; Automobile Liability Defense; Trucking and Transportation Industry Litigation; Commercial and Business Litigation; Construction Litigation; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Appeals; General Civil Litigation; Municipal Law; Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Litigation.
CALIFORNIA
Notice
An insurer must “adequately” reserve its right to deny cover- age. Gray v. Zurich Ins. Co., 65 Cal.2d 263 (1966). An in- surer can “adequately” and unilaterally reserve its right to as- sert non-coverage by merely giving notice to the insured. By accepting the insurer’s defense under these circumstances, the insured is deemed to have accepted this condition. Val’s Painting & Drywall Inc., v. Allstate Ins. Co., 53 Cal. App. 3d 576, 126 Cal. Rptr. 267 (1975).
Content
A reservation of rights letter should state the basis for the reservation under the policy, as well as the facts on which a
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potential denial of coverage would be based. Blue Ridge Ins. Co. v. Jacobsen, 25 Cal. 4th 489, 22 P. 3d 313 (2001).
Waiver/Estoppel
When issuing a disclaimer, an insurer must include all known grounds for disclaiming coverage; any defense to coverage not stated in a disclaimer letter will be deemed waived. Communale v. Traders & Gen. Ins. Co., 253 P.2d 495, 498 (Cal. Ct. App. 1953). However, a defense that the insurer had no knowledge of at the time of the disclaimer is not waived. William Body Enters. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 7 Cal. App. 4th 1567, 1579-1580 (1991).
Reimbursement of Settlement Payment
An insurer has the ability to enter an agreement with the