Doan

Plaintiff The Doan brought this action against defendant State Farm General Insurance Company. Suing for himself and a class of similarly situated policyholders, Doan alleged that State Farm breached its property *1087 insurance contracts and violated California law in settling claims by employing improper valuation methods that overstate depreciation. The trial court sustained State Farm’s demurrer to the second amended complaint, without leave to amend, and this appeal followed.

This appeal concerns the proper interpretation of Insurance Code provisions, particularly Insurance Code section 2071, 1 which requires an appraisal in cases where property valuation is disputed. As explained below, we conclude that the trial court has discretion to defer an appraisal pending a judicial declaration of the parties’ rights under the insurance policies and statutes. Based on that conclusion, we reverse the judgment of dismissal as to the first four causes of action of Doan’s complaint.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

I. Factual Background

Doan and the other policyholders were insured under property insurance policies issued by State Farm. 3 Doan’s “policy stated that State Farm would…