In homeowners' breach of contract and bad faith suit against their insurer, the insurer's petition for writ of mandate is granted as, building a structure that encroaches onto another's property is not an accident even if the owners acted in a good faith but mistaken belief that they were legally entitled to build where they did. Because their homeowner policy did not provide coverage for non-accidental occurrences, the owners' insurer had no duty to defend when the owners were sued by the adjoining landowner as a result of the encroachment.
Read Fire Ins. Exch. v. Sup. Ct., No. E046531 [HTML]
Read Fire Ins. Exch. v. Sup. Ct., No. E046531 [PDF]
Appellate Information
Filed January 26, 2010
Judges
Opinion by Judge McKinster
For Appellant: Horvitz & Levy, Barry R. Levy, Karen M. Bray; Leist Law Group, Jeffrey J. Leist and Eric N. Riezman
For Appellee: N/A