Fluor Corporation v. Super. Ct.

We granted review to consider whether Insurance Code section 520 — a statute tracing back to 1872, which was not cited to or considered by this court when we decided Henkel Corp. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 934 [ 129 Cal.Rptr.2d 828 , 62 P.3d 69 ] (Henkel) — changes our determination in that case regarding the enforceability of “consent-to-assignment” clauses in third party liability insurance policies. Under Henkel, the consent-to-assignment clause contained in the insurance policy in the present case would permit the insurer, after a loss has occurred, to refuse to honor an insured’s assignment of the right to invoke the policy coverage for such third party losses attributable to past time periods for which the insured had paid premiums. We conclude that Insurance Code section 520 dictates a result different from that reached in Henkel, and accordingly we overrule the decision in Henkel to the extent it is inconsistent with the views expressed in the present opinion.

Henkel, like the present case, concerned an insured’s assignment of the right to invoke defense and indemnification coverage under a liability policy issued by real party in…