California Court of Appeal

In this case, plaintiff brought a lawsuit against defendant insurance company for payment of underinsured motorist benefits following a motor vehicle accident in which plaintiff's husband was killed by a drunk truck driver returning home from her job at a restaurant. Dismissal is affirmed, where: 1) defendant's policy unambiguously allows them to deduct from the underinsured motorist coverage limits "the amount paid to the insured by or for any person or organization that may be held legally liable for the injury"; and 2) because $265,000 was paid to plaintiff in settlement of her claims that both the drunk driver and the restaurant owners may be held legally liable for the injury, defendant properly deducted this amount from the underinsured motorist coverage limits.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/19/2014
• Published 11/19/2014

Judges

• Hoch

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel