Judge: Michael Shultz, Case: 22CMCV00556, Date: 2023-02-07 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 22CMCV00556 Hearing Date: February 7, 2023 Dept: A
22CMCV00556
21st Century Insurance Company v. Deborah Moore
[TENTATIVE] ORDER
Petitioner commenced this action on
November 17, 2022, with a petition for a case number to govern an underlying
uninsured motorist arbitration. Petitioner moves to dismiss the arbitration
proceeding for Respondent’s failure to complete arbitration within five years. While
Petitioner took Respondent’s and a witness’s deposition in April and September
of 2018, Respondent’s counsel has not contacted Petitioner since then.
Petitioner served Respondent’s
counsel with the motion on December 16, 2022. No opposition has been filed.
An arbitration instituted under
the Insurance Code shall be concluded in pertinent part within with five years
from the institution of the arbitration proceeding. Ins. Code, § 11580.2 subd. (i)(1).
Respondent served a formal written demand for arbitration on June 22, 2017.
Motion, Ex. A. The statute is liberally construed, and while remedial in nature,
“the statutory language clearly shows that the Legislature intended to impose
strict prerequisites and time limits for claims involving uninsured motorists,
and that the Legislature intended to relieve an insurer of its duty to disclose
the statutory time limit if the insured was represented by an attorney. We
cannot ignore this explicit language that demonstrates legislative
intent." Juarez v. 21st Century Ins. Co. (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 371,
377.
Thus, although Petitioner did not
have a duty to inform Respondent as she was represented by counsel, on June 17,
2019, Petitioner’s counsel informed Respondent’s counsel of the five-year time
requirement. Ins. Code, § 11580.2 subd. (k).
Motion, Ex. B. The five-year time period ended on June 22, 2022.
Based on the foregoing, Petitioner’s
motion is GRANTED. The uninsured motorist arbitration proceeding commenced by
Deborah Moore is dismissed.