Bright

Plaintiff in intervention, Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate), appeals following the dismissal of its complaint in intervention for want of prosecution since the action was not brought to trial within the mandatory five-year period. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 583.310 and 583.360.) We hold that where the complaint in intervention by an insurer claiming property subrogation rights states essentially the same causes of action against the defendants as are stated in the plaintiff’s original complaint, the five-year dismissal period runs from the date the original action is commenced and not from the date the complaint in intervention is filed.

Facts

On April 13, 1983, the Brights filed a complaint against the defendants, termite control and chemical companies, for personal injuries and property damage which arose out of the misapplication of the chemical chlordane when their house was treated to exterminate termites. Approximately two months after the at-issue memorandum was filed, on October 10, 1984, Allstate filed its complaint in intervention. Both the complaint in intervention and the Brights’ complaint contained numerous identical causes of action pertaining to…