Harbor Insurance v. City of Ontario

*929 Opinion

The action underlying this appeal is one for declaratory relief brought by Harbor Insurance Company (plaintiff) against its insured, City of Ontario (defendant), to resolve a single issue. That issue is whether defendant insured is required to contribute its self-insured retention after it gave plaintiff insurer its permission but not its agreement to settle a third party action filed against defendant for the wrongful death of James Belyeu. The trial court determined that defendant was legally obligated to contribute to the settlement, and a summary judgment reflecting this determination was entered accordingly. In our view, on the undisputed facts and the pertinent language of the insurance policy in question, the trial court correctly resolved the issue, and so we shall affirm the judgment.

Synopsis of Trial Court Proceedings

When defendant refused to contribute its self-insured retention, after settlement of the third party action, for which it had given its “permission,” but not its “agreement,” plaintiff filed suit for declaratory relief. After the case was at issue, plaintiff gave notice of motion for summary judgment; defendant countered with its own such…