Garbell

The smoke from a fire at the Calabasas home of James and Rita Garbell damaged their personal property. For their personal property loss, the Garbells’ insurance company paid the policy limit of $424,050, which covered about half of their loss. The Garbells sued Conejo Hardwoods, Inc., to recover for their uninsured loss, and the Garbells’ insurer sued Conejo Hardwoods in a separate subrogation action to recover what it paid the *1566 Garbells. Workers from Conejo Hardwoods (the workers) 1 were installing hardwood flooring in the Garbells’ house on the day of the fire.

The jury returned a verdict with findings that Conejo Hardwoods negligently caused the fire, attributing 55 percent of the fault to Conejo Hardwoods for the Garbells’ total loss of $822,483.45, resulting in a judgment against Conejo Hardwoods of $452,365.90. The trial court then deducted the insurance payment of $424,050, which was at issue in the subrogation action, leaving a net recovery of $28,315.90.

The Garbells appeal the trial court’s damages calculation, contending the trial court miscalculated comparative fault, but the Garbells’ argument confuses the collateral source rule with the subrogation…