Li-Lin Sung Lee v. California Capital Insurance

In this appeal from a judgment confirming an insurance appraisal award, California Capital Insurance Company (California Capital) contends the trial court erred in compelling an appraisal that required the appraisal panel to assign loss values to items the insured claimed were damaged in a fire even if the items were not damaged or did not exist. It also claims the court erred in confirming the appraisal award, arguing that the appraisal panel exceeded its authority by issuing two competing and vastly different values for the loss.

We agree with California Capital that the award issued in this case pursuant to the trial court’s directive neither complies with the terms of the governing statute nor accomplishes the objectives of an appraisal. It was error to compel the appraisal panel to assign loss values to items simply because they were listed in the insured’s scope of loss and regardless of whether inspection revealed they were undamaged or never existed. Accordingly, we reverse.

Factual and Procedural Background

In November 2010, a fire damaged an apartment building in Oakland owned by Li-Lin Sung Lee (the property). The property consists of a four-story building…