Safeco Insurance v. Fireman's Fund Insurance

In a prior action, an insured homeowner was found liable to a downhill neighbor for a landslide that inundated the neighbor’s backyard with dirt and debris. The judgment totaled around $4 million. The homeowner’s primary and excess insurers provided a defense and indemnity. This is a declaratory relief action between the insurers concerning the coverage provided under successive policies issued by the primary insurer.

Immediately after the landslide, the City of Los Angeles determined that the neighbor’s backyard was unusable and ordered the insured to repair the slope. But the slope went unrepaired for years, and the backyard remained unusable while each of the primary policies was in effect.

The primary insurer issued four successive policies that covered an “occurrence [of] property damage,” defined as an accident, including continuous exposure to the same conditions resulting in a loss of use during the policy period. The policies separately covered an “occurrence [of] personal injury,” *625 which included “an act . . . that occurs during the policy period and which results [in wrongful entry or eviction].” Each policy had limits of $500,000 per occurrence.

In this…

I concur but write separately to emphasize a few points.

A.

These are the pertinent facts.

Harold Lancer, the insured, owned a house on the top of a slope. Lawrence and Linda Rauch (collectively Rauch) lived at the bottom of the slope, which failed on February 27, 1998, at which time mud and debris flowed onto Rauch’s property. Rauch lost the use of his backyard and had to move some of his personal property into storage. The City of Los Angeles ordered Lancer to repair the slope but he did not comply with the order. In February 1999, Rauch sued Lancer and the other uphill owners for damages and injunctive relief on theories of negligence (failure to maintain the slope), trespass (by the mudslide) and nuisance (the continuing risk of “additional slippage”). Another action against the same defendants was filed by Rauch’s downhill neighbors and various cross-complaints were filed.

At the time of the landslide, Lancer was insured (1) by a $500,000 Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company homeowners policy and (2) by a $5 million Safeco Insurance Company of America personal umbrella policy. The Fireman’s Fund policy was effective from June 1997 to June 1998, and was renewed annually for…

MALLANO, Acting P.J.

In a prior action, an insured homeowner was found liable to a downhill neighbor for a landslide that inundated the neighbor's backyard with dirt and debris. The judgment totaled around $4 million. The homeowner's primary and excess insurers provided a defense and indemnity. This is a declaratory relief action between the insurers concerning the coverage provided under successive policies issued by the primary insurer.

Immediately after the landslide, the City of Los Angeles determined that the neighbor's backyard was unusable and ordered the insured to repair the slope. But the slope went unrepaired for years, and the backyard remained unusable while each of the primary policies was in effect.

The primary insurer issued four successive policies that covered an "occurrence [of] property damage," defined as an accident, including continuous exposure to the same conditions resulting in a loss of use during the policy period. The policies separately covered an "occurrence [of] personal injury," which included "an act . . . that occurs during the policy period and which results [in wrongful entry or eviction]." Each policy had limits of $500,000 per…