SCOTTSDALE INSURANCE COMPANY v. HUDSON SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY (2018)

MEMORANDUM **

This appeal involves a dispute between two insurance companies concerning coverage of an underlying lawsuit in which a parking garage patron was severely injured. Defendant-Appellee Hudson Specialty Insurance Company (“Hudson”) insured the company that leased the parking garage on a primary level, and Plaintiff-Appellant Scottsdale Insurance Company (“Scottsdale”) insured the same company on an excess level. This dispute centers upon whether the Hudson Policy coverage had a $1 million limitation on liability as stated in the policy or whether the Parking Operations Errors and Omissions Endorsement (“Endorsement”) added an additional $1 million.

The District Court held that Coverage A of the Hudson Policy unambiguously incorporates the Endorsement. The court further held that the Endorsement is subject to Coverage A's $1 million limitation on liability for “each occurrence,” and that Hudson's total liability for the occurrence involved in the underlying lawsuit is therefore limited to $1 million.

Scottsdale on appeal contends that the Endorsement created claims-made coverage that is separate from Coverage A's occurrence-based coverage. The Endorsement, however, explicitly states that it “amend[s]” Coverage A “to include” the Endorsement. As Coverage A is occurrence-based coverage, the Endorsement is likewise occurrence-based coverage that is subject to a $1 million limitation on liability. Moreover, the Hudson Policy, including the endorsements, must be read as a whole. Adams v. Explorer Ins. Co., 107 Cal.App.4th 438, 132 Cal.Rptr.2d 24, 33 (2003).

Even if the Hudson Policy were ambiguous, however, Scottsdale's argument would nevertheless fail. Although the declarations page of the Hudson Policy states that the Endorsement covers “each claim” and that Coverage A covers “each occurrence,” when the policy, including the endorsements, conflicts with the declarations page, the policy language controls. See Hervey v. Mercury Cas. Co., 185 Cal.App.4th 954, 110 Cal.Rptr.3d 890, 898 (2010) (“[A]ny ambiguity in the [d]eclaration ‘is resolved by’ the terms of the policy.” (quoting United Servs. Auto. Ass'n v. Baggett, 209 Cal.App.3d 1387, 258 Cal.Rptr. 52, 59 (1989) ) ). The language of the Endorsement and Coverage A resolve any ambiguity in the declarations page.

AFFIRMED.