California Court of Appeal

In a class action lawsuit alleging that defendant-insurers engaged in illegal adjusting practices, and particularly failed to comply with the method for determining actual cash value set forth in the Insurance Code for a partial loss in a fire, the trial court's denial of defendants' motion to compel an appraisal of plaintiff-insureds' claims is affirmed, where: 1) the decision whether to stay the appraisal is committed to the trial court's sound discretion; and 2) here, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in deferring an appraisal pending a judicial declaration of the parties' rights under the insurance policies and statutes, specifically, a determination of the legality of defendants' practices in calculating depreciation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/23/2013
• Published 09/23/2013

Judges

• BIGELOW

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel