Rangel

*5 Opinion

—We granted review to decide whether an uninsured motorist carrier committed a tortious breach of insurance contract by delaying payment on a claim when the insured’s workers’ compensation claim arising from the same accident had not yet been resolved. We conclude that there was no breach of duty and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

I. Facts and Procedural History

In December 1977, defendant Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club of Southern California (the Exchange) issued an automobile insurance policy to plaintiff Alice Casarez Rangel (Rangel). In February 1978, Rangel was injured by an uninsured motorist in a hit-and-run accident. Rangel filed a claim for uninsured motorist coverage benefits under her policy shortly after the accident and also filed a demand for arbitration of the claim. Additionally, Rangel filed a workers’ compensation claim asserting that she had been injured in the course and scope of her employment.

The uninsured motorist provision of Rangel’s insurance policy provided for reduction of the loss payable by the amount of workers’ compensation benefits received by the insured: “[A]ny loss payable to or for any person shall…

When, as here, liability and damages are not in dispute, may an insurer refuse to pay an insured’s claim for uninsured motorist benefits until there has been a determination of the insured’s separate claim in a workers’ compensation proceeding arising from the same accident? The majority holds that because the insured failed to fully comply with certain statutory procedures relating to arbitration, and because the insurer would not be entitled to a lien against the insured’s workers’ compensation recovery, the insurer had no duty to pay the insured’s claim until the workers’ compensation proceeding concluded eight and one-half years after the injury to the insured.

I disagree. The insured was not required to comply with the statutory arbitration procedure, because the statute applies only when there is a dispute between the insured and the insurer as to the liability of the uninsured motorist or the amount of damages the insured is entitled to recover from the uninsured motorist. There was no such dispute in this case. The majority penalizes the insured for supposed noncompliance with an inapplicable statute. Moreover, the fact that the insurer is not entitled to a lien against…

We granted review to decide whether an uninsured motorist carrier committed a tortious breach of insurance contract by delaying payment on a claim when the insured's workers' compensation claim arising from the same accident had not yet been resolved. We conclude that there was no breach of duty and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

In December 1977, defendant Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club of Southern California (the Exchange) issued an automobile insurance policy to plaintiff Alice Casarez Rangel (Rangel). In February 1978, Rangel was injured by an uninsured motorist in a hit-and-run accident. Rangel filed a claim for uninsured motorist coverage benefits under her policy shortly after the accident and also filed a demand for arbitration of the claim. Additionally, Rangel filed a workers' compensation claim asserting that she had been injured in the course and scope of her employment.

The uninsured motorist provision of Rangel's insurance policy provided for reduction of the loss payable by the amount of workers' compensation benefits received by the insured: "[ A ] ny loss payable to or for any person shall be reduced by the…