Judge: Salvatore Sirna, Case: 25PSCP00162, Date: 2025-05-08 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 25PSCP00162 Hearing Date: May 8, 2025 Dept: G
Petition of Safeco Insurance Company of America to
Open Underinsured Motorist Discovery Case
Respondent: NO OPPOSITION
TENTATIVE RULING
Petition of Safeco Insurance Company of America to Open Discovery Underinsured Motorist Discovery Case is DENIED.
BACKGROUND
Petitioner Safeco Insurance Company of America (Petitioner) filed this petition on March 19, 2025. Petitioner does not provide any relevant background information.
ANALYSIS
Petitioner moves to open an uninsured motorist case to manage discovery issues and to serve subpoenas. For the following reasons, the court DENIES Petitioner’s petition.
Legal Standard
Pursuant the California Insurance Code section 11580.2, subdivision (f): “The policy or an endorsement added thereto shall provide that the determination as to whether the insured shall be legally entitled to recover damages, and if so entitled, the amount thereof, shall be made by agreement between the insured and the insurer or, in the event of disagreement, by arbitration. … Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be applicable to these determinations, and all rights, remedies, obligations, liabilities and procedures set forth in Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be available to both the insured and the insurer at any time after the accident, both before and after the commencement of arbitration, if any, with the following limitations: [¶] (1) Whenever in Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, reference is made to the court in which the action is pending, or provision is made for application to the court or obtaining leave of court or approval by the court, the court that shall have jurisdiction for the purposes of this section shall be the superior court of the State of California, in and for any county that is a proper county for the filing of a suit for bodily injury arising out of the accident, against the uninsured motorist, or any county specified in the policy or an endorsement added thereto as a proper county for arbitration or action thereon.” (Ins. Code, § 11580.2, subd. (f), emphasis added.)
“[T]he contractual arbitration statute, giving an arbitrator the statutory power to exercise remedies under the Civil Discovery Act, must be reconciled, if possible, with the uninsured motorist law, which not only makes the Civil Discovery Act applicable, but expressly requires that whenever the Civil Discovery Act makes reference to a court, the court that has jurisdiction shall be the superior court. We may harmonize these conflicting provisions by reading the discovery provisions governing uninsured motorist arbitrations as an exception to the discovery provisions governing contractual arbitrations generally.” (Miranda v. 21st Century Ins. Co. (2004) 117 Cal.App.4th 913, 924; see also Briggs v. Resolution Remedies (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 1395, 1401, fn. 6 [“We recognize that Insurance Code section 11580.2, subdivision (f) commits discovery disputes in uninsured motorist arbitrations to the superior court.”].)
Discussion
Here, Petitioner failed to provide the court with a memorandum of points and authorities, as well as other pertinent information related to this matter. As such, the court has no basis upon which to grant the petition. Accordingly, the court DENIES Petitioner’s request to open underinsured motorist discovery case.
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, Petitioner’s petition to open an uninsured motorist case to manage discovery issues and to serve subpoenas is DENIED.