Judge: Armen Tamzarian, Case: 24STCV02500, Date: 2024-08-26 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV02500    Hearing Date: August 26, 2024    Dept: 52

Tentative Ruling:   

Defendant GEICO General Insurance Company’s Demurrer to Complaint

Defendant GEICO General Insurance Company (GEICO) demurs to each cause of action alleged by plaintiff Admiranda Maxwell. 

Plaintiff’s complaint does not allege sufficient facts to constitute any cause of action against defendant GEICO.  “As a general rule, absent an assignment of rights or a final judgment, a third party claimant may not bring a direct action against an insurance company on the contract because the insurer’s duties flow to the insured.”  (Harper v. Wausau Ins. Co. (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 1079, 1086.)  But “once a party has a final judgment against the insured, the claimant becomes a third party beneficiary of the insurance policy and may” bring an action against the insurer.  (Ibid., citing Ins. Code, § 11580, subd. (b)(2).) 

Each cause of action plaintiff alleges against GEICO arises from the same factual allegations: on May 4, 2022, plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle collision with a driver insured by GEICO.  (Comp., pp. 4-7.)  Plaintiff brings this action directly against GEICO, not the driver who allegedly injured her.  Plaintiff does not allege she obtained a final judgment against the driver who caused her injury.  Nor does she allege GEICO itself caused any injury to her.  Based on the complaint’s allegations, GEICO owes a duty to the driver it insured—not to plaintiff. 

Disposition

            Defendant GEICO General Insurance Company’s demurrer to plaintiff Admiranda Maxwell’s complaint is sustained with 20 days’ leave to amend.