Weston Reid, LLC v. American Insurance Group, Inc.

Plaintiff and appellant Weston Reid, LLC, appeals after the trial court sustained a demurrer without leave to amend and dismissed its complaint against defendant and respondent American Insurance Group, Inc. (AIG). AIG’s insured, Karen Sheets (Sheets), was injured in an automobile accident and medical care was provided by Mercy General Hospital (Mercy). Mercy had claims under the Hospital Lien Act (HLA) (Civ. Code, §§ 3045.1-3045.6) for a lien on any recovery Sheets might obtain from the tortfeasor. Mercy assigned its HLA claims to plaintiff. Plaintiff filed this action against Sheets’s insurer, AIG, for alleged negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices. We affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Because the matter arises upon demurrer, we take the essential facts from the operative pleading, the first amended complaint. We accept as true all properly pleaded allegations of material fact, but not deductions, contentions, or conclusions of law or fact. (Zelig v. County of Los Angeles (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1112, 1126 [ 119 Cal.Rptr.2d 709 , 45 P.3d 1171 ].)

The automobile accident occurred on February 12, 2005. Sheets was injured in a…