Globe Indemnity Co. v. Superior Court

Globe Indemnity Company (Globe) seeks a writ directing the respondent court to vacate an order denying Globe’s motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication of issues and to enter in its place an order granting the motion. After our initial review of the petition, we issued a notice pursuant to Palma v. U.S. Industrial Fasteners, Inc. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 171 [ 203 Cal.Rptr. 626 [ 681 P.2d 893 ], and requested opposition. We hold that as a matter of law Globe’s delay in processing the claim at issue here was reasonable in that plaintiffs failed to timely provide the information required under the terms of the insurance policy. Accordingly, the petition is granted.

Background

Globe issued an insurance policy which provided uninsured motorist coverage to plaintiffs Michael Guarnieri and Roberta Guarnieri. The policy included coverage for Aimee Guarnieri (Aimee), who was 16 years old at the time of the accident which gave rise to this lawsuit. On April 14, 1990, Aimee was injured while riding as a passenger on the back of a stolen motorcycle which was involved in a high-speed police chase. The accident was first reported to Globe on April 23, 1990. Because the policy…