Self

Westchester Fire Insurance Company (Westchester) appeals from the trial court’s summary judgment declaring Westchester liable for coverage for injuries sustained by a student passenger who fell out of his wheelchair in 1994 while in a school bus owned by the William S. Hart Union High School District (the School District.) Westchester and respondent Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF) each advanced about $2,1 million to fund settlement on behalf of Santa Barbara Transportation (SBT), which contracted to operate buses owned by the School District; an employee of SBT was driving the school bus when the accident happened.

Coverage issues as between Westchester and SELF were reserved and are the subject of this lawsuit. The School District may have assessed SBT $900 per bus in exchange for being included in the School District’s coverage for bus operations; that coverage was provided by a “Memorandum of Coverage” issued by SELF, a California Joint Powers Authority. Westchester, a commercial insurer, issued an excess policy separately maintained by SBT. The trial court decided for SELF on two independent grounds: 1) Westchester’s belated agreement with SBT to change its…