Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Century Surety Co.

*1158 Opinion

Defendant Century Surety Company appeals from the judgment awarding plaintiff Travelers Casualty and Surety Company $53,054.84 entered after the trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c.) The issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred by finding defendant insurer had a duty to contribute on a pro rata basis to the litigation and indemnification expenses incurred by plaintiff insurer in defending a common insured sued in a construction defect lawsuit. We conclude the trial court properly so held and affirm the judgment.

FACTS

Between July 1988 and 1993, plaintiff issued commercial general liability insurance policies covering Standard Wood Structures, Inc. (Standard), a framing contractor. The policies contained a provision declaring that, if “any other insurance is also primary,” plaintiff “will share with all that other insurance,” either in “equal shares” where “all of the other insurance permits,” or otherwise “based on the ratio of [each insurer’s] applicable limit of insurance to the total applicable limits of insurance of all insurers.”

Defendant issued a primary commercial general liability policy to…