KPFF, Inc. v. California Union Insurance

This appeal arises from a dispute between two insurers concerning coverage of a claim against a structural engineering firm under a “claims-made” professional liability insurance policy. The insured, KPFF, Inc., and the insurer, Security Insurance Company of Hartford, which paid the disputed claim (hereafter appellants), brought an action against the firm’s insurer for a prior year, California Union Insurance Company (hereafter California Union), which denied coverage of the claim. The trial court found for California Union and entered a judgment dismissing the complaint. We affirm.

Procedural History

Almost five years after the complaint was filed in September 1989, the parties agreed to a trial before the court and waived the five-year limitation of Code of Civil Procedure section 583.310. The trial court ordered the trial bifurcated. The first phase was reserved for the issue of waiver and certain procedural issues and the second phase for the issue of insurance coverage under the “awareness provision” of California Union’s insurance policy.

The issues reserved for the first phase came up for trial on November 14, 1994, and were submitted to the court, without the…