Los Angeles, Calif. (July 15, 2020) - The other shoe has dropped on the issue of vertical and horizontal exhaustion with respect to triggering excess coverage under California law. In Montrose Chemical Corp. of Calif. v. Superior Court (2020) 9 Cal.5th 215 (Montrose III), the California Supreme Court left open the issue of whether all primary policies applicable to a loss must be exhausted before coverage is triggered under an excess policy. The California Court of Appeal has now applied the reasoning of the Montrose III decision to the exhaustion of primary coverage with respect to determining when coverage is triggered under an excess policy.
The SantaFe Braun Decision
On July 14, 2020, the Court of Appeal issued its decision in SantaFre Braun, Inc. v. Insurance Co....
