Nat. Union Fire Ins. Co. etc. v. Mid-Century Ins. Co. CA1/5

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

CalPortland manufactures and distributes cement products for construction purposes, at least two of which contain asbestos—Colton Gun Plastic Cement1 and Arizona Portland Mortar Cement. Since 1983, CalPortland has been named as a defendant in more than 1,700 asbestos-related lawsuits. Truck Insurance Exchange (Truck) issued primary insurance policies with aggregate limits of $300,000 or $100,000. Mid-Century issued nine umbrella polices during that same period which had either a $200,000 or $400,000 limit per occurrence, and which sat directly above the Truck policies, providing coverage for “the excess of loss over $300,000 [or $100,000] for each and every accident or series of accidents arising out of one occurrence. . . up to $200,000 [or $400,000]. . . .” National Union provided CalPortland with liability insurance coverage for the five-month period from February 1, 1985–July 1, 1985. The policy had a $500,000 per occurrence limit but lacked any aggregate limit. Continental issued a primary policy to CalMat Co. (CalMat) and numerous affiliated companies including CalPortland for the period of July 1, 1985–July 1, 1986.2 This policy had…