The California Supreme Court held that, regardless of a policy’s consent-to-assignment provision, an insurer’s consent is not required for a valid assignment of a liability insurance policy after a loss has happened. Its holding is based on rarely-cited Insurance Code section 520 (“Section 520”) which states: “[a]n agreement not to transfer the claim of the insured against the insurer after a loss has happened, is void if made before the loss.” Further, the Court concluded a loss “happens” when an event giving rise to potentially covered liability takes place, not when a claim is reduced to a fixed sum due. In so holding, the Court overruled Henkel Corp. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 934, which reached a contrary conclusion but did not consider the effect of Section 520.
Hartford issued a series of liability policies to Fluor Corporation, an engineering and construction company. The policies, in effect from 1971 to 1986, contained a consent-to-assignment clause that stated an “[a]ssignment of interest under this policy shall not bind the Company until its consent is endorsed hereon.” Beginning in the mid-1980s, various Fluor entities were sued in numerous lawsuits alleging injuries caused by exposure to asbestos. Hartford defended and settled lawsuits against Fluor over a 25-year period.
In the 1980s, Fluor acquired a mining business, A.T. Massey. But in 2000, Fluor chose to refocus on its core businesses and underwent a corporate restructuring known as a “reverse spinoff.” Fluor created a new subsidiary (“Fluor-2”), with the original Fluor becoming Massey Energy. Under a Distribution Agreement, Fluor transferred its rights and obligations to Fluor-2. Those “rights” encompassed all of Fluor’s assets, including the Hartford policies. Fluor-2 notified Hartford of the restructuring. Hartford did not object and continued to defend Fluor-2 against asbestos lawsuits for another seven years.
In 2006, Fluor-2 filed a coverage action against Hartford regarding issues unrelated to Fluor’s assignment. In a 2009 cross-complaint, Hartford for the first time alleged the purported assignment of its policies to Fluor-2 was invalid without Hartford’s consent. Hartford sought reimbursement of defense and indemnity paid on Fluor-2’s behalf.
Fluor-2 moved for summary adjudication that Section 520 bars enforcement of Hartford’s consent-to-assignment clause “after a loss has happened.” Fluor-2 asserted the underlying asbestos suits alleged exposure while Hartford’s policies were in effect. Thus, the “loss” triggering its duty to defend and indemnify already happened, so claims under the policy were assignable without Hartford’s consent. Hartford argued the Court was duty-bound to follow Henkel, which held an assignment is valid only after a loss has been reduced to a “chose in action” – that is, a fixed sum of money due or to become due.
The trial court agreed with Hartford. Fluor-2 filed a writ which the Court of Appeal denied, concluding Henkel controls. The Court of Appeal also concluded Section 520 only applies to first-party insurance policies, since liability insurance “did not even exist” when the predecessor to Section 520 was enacted in 1872. The Supreme Court granted review to consider the effect of Section 520 on the purported assignment.
The Supreme Court first recounted the history of Section 520 in detail. In 1935, when the Insurance Code was created, third-party liability policies were becoming more common, and Section 520 was included in a “General Rules” section of the Code with other sections defining and applying to liability insurance. Section 520 was modified in 1947 to exclude two specific classes of insurance (life and disability, not liability). The Supreme Court disagreed with the Court of Appeal and concluded Section 520 applies to both first-party and third-party insurance policies.
The Court then considered how Section 520 applies in the liability insurance context. The issue turns on the meaning of the phrase “after a loss has happened,” which the Court concluded is ambiguous. Fluor-2 asserted a loss “happened” when a claimant was exposed to asbestos while the Hartford policies were in effect, so Fluor’s assignment of its rights under the policies to Fluor-2 in 2000 was valid. In contrast, Hartford asserted a loss happens when the insured incurs a direct loss by judgment or settlement fixing a sum of money due. The Court concluded that both interpretations are reasonable.
However, the Court reasoned that the legislative history of Section 520, as well as early cases addressing assignment of policies, favor Fluor-2’s view. Early cases distinguish an insured’s inability to assign a policy as to future events (substituting another insured for the risk the insurer evaluated) from an insured’s right to assign a claim after a loss. Regarding the timing of loss, the Court concluded an insurer’s contingent liability to its insured becomes “fixed” when an accident or event takes place for which the insured may be responsible. A claim need not be reduced to a discrete sum for a loss to have occurred.
The Court stated this is the majority view across the country and was expressed in case law decided before the 1947 amendment of Section 520, so the rule was part of the “legal landscape” at that time. The Court also reasoned the notion that loss “happens” at the time of the injury during the policy period is consistent with its holdings in Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Admiral Ins. Co. (1995) 10 Cal.4th 645 and State of California v. Continental Ins. Co. (2012) 55 Cal.4th 186, in which the Court equated “loss” with bodily injury and property damage, rather than a money judgment or settlement.
The Court rejected various arguments by Hartford, including that the Court is bound to follow Henkel and that its reliance on a relatively obscure statute is misplaced. The Court overruled Henkel to the extent it is inconsistent.
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This opinion is not final. It may be modified on rehearing or review may be granted by the United States Supreme Court. These events would render the opinion unavailable for use as legal authority.
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