United Pacific Insurance v. Hanover Insurance

United Pacific Insurance Company (United Pacific), plaintiff below, appeals from the trial court’s decision to leave undisturbed an arbitrator’s proration of insurance coverage among the three parties to this dispute. Hanover Insurance Company (Hanover), a defendant below, cross-appeals from the judgment. We shall conclude that the trial court’s decision to leave the parties as it found them gives them all the equity they deserve. Accordingly, we shall affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The pertinent facts are undisputed. On December 1, 1982, Robert White was injured. He and his wife, Betty White, sued a number of defendants in Calaveras County Superior Court. These defendants tendered their defenses to the three insurers before us. Ultimately, the three insurers decided to settle with plaintiffs and reserve their right to dispute coverage among themselves.

Three provisions of the settlement agreement pertain to the dispute before us. First, the Whites agreed to dismiss their action with prejudice “in consideration of the payment to [them] of 1.5 Million Dollars within the next sixty (60) days, ($750,000 of which is to be paid immediately by [Hanover] and…