Guyton

Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Guyton

Bad Law

471 F. Supp. 1126·1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13594

United States District Court, Central District of CaliforniaMarch 21, 1979CV 76-3488, CV 77-383, CV 77-384, CV 77-680, CV 77-956, CV 77-2757, CV 77-2758, CV 77-2759, CV 77-2761, CV 77-2762, CV 77-2763, CV 77-2775, CV 77-3372, CV 77-3373, CV 77-3390 and CV 77-3780California1,852 words

Opinion

Solomon, J.

Plaintiffs insurance companies filed these actions to obtain judgments declaring that the insurance policies which they issued excluded flood damage and therefore do not cover the losses to real and personal property which the policyholders sustained as a result of a flood which occurred on September 10, 1976, in Palm Desert, California.

The defendant insureds, in their answers, assert that the losses were proximately caused by the negligence of third parties and are therefore covered by the policies. They also demand damages, including punitive damages, because the insurance companies failed to pay these losses.

The cases were consolidated for trial and were tried before me, without a jury, on the segregated issue of coverage.

It was agreed that I would not decide whether there was third party negligence or whether that negligence, if any, was a proximate cause of the loss; I was merely to decide if in these cases the policies insured against damage which was a proximate result of third party negligence; and, if so, the cases would then be submitted to one or more juries on the issues of proximate cause and damages.

If, however, I find that under the facts of these…

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