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Procedural Posture

General

Plaintiff insureds sought a peremptory writ of mandate directing the Superior Court of Los Angeles County (California) to overrule defendants’ demurrer to plaintiffs’ cause of action for violation of Cal. Ins. Code § 1861.03.

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Overview

Plaintiff insureds brought suit against defendant insurers under Cal. Ins. Code § 1861.03 et seq. The court denied plaintiffs’ petition for a peremptory writ of mandate directing the lower court to overrule defendants’ demurrer to plaintiffs’ cause of action under §1861.03. Plaintiffs were indirectly attempting to plead a breach of Cal. Ins. Code § 790.03 through § 1861.03. Section § 1861.03 did not supersede the ban on a private action for damages under § 790.03. Nor could plaintiffs circumvent that ban by bootstrapping an alleged violation of § 790.03 onto Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 so as to state a cause of action under § 1861.03. Finally, § 1861.03 did not create an independent cause of action. Similarly, Cal. Ins. Code § 1861.10 did not did not create a private right of action under § 790.03. The court was bound by the state supreme court’s decision concerning § 790.03, and therefore was unable to rule on plaintiffs’ contention that the state supreme court overlooked the 1987 amendment to Cal. Evid. Code § 1152(b).

Outcome

The court denied plaintiff insureds’ petition for a writ of mandate directing the lower court to overrule defendants’ insurers’ demurrer to plaintiffs’ cause of action under a particular statute. That statute did not supersede the prohibition against private litigant’s from maintaining a cause of action under another statute, which plaintiffs were attempting to bring, nor did it give rise to an independent cause of action.