Umpqua Bank v. First American Title Insurance Company

MEMORANDUM

“We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo.” Hamilton v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 270 F.3d 778, 782 (9th Cir.2001). “We will only affirm if, viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, there are no genuine issues of material fact and the district court correctly applied the relevant substantive law.” Id. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of First American Title Insurance Company.

1.Umpqua Bank’s claim that First American breached its agreement to provide title insurance to Umpqua must fail. The undisputed evidence shows that First American is not liable for Umpqua’s loss or damage, because Umpqua voluntarily settled a claim without prior written consent from First American. The no voluntary payments (NVP) provision of the insurance contract (paragraph 8(c)), specifically provides that First American “shall not be liable for loss or damage to [Umpqua] for liability voluntarily assumed by [Umpqua] in settling any claim or suit without [First American’s] prior written consent.” California law outlines that an NVP provision means that “insureds cannot unilaterally settle a claim before…