{"id":890321,"date":"2016-07-26T12:08:25","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T18:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=890321"},"modified":"2016-07-26T12:08:25","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T18:08:25","slug":"under-the-right-circumstances-there-are-advantages-to-pleading-negligent-misrepresentation-against-an-insurer-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/under-the-right-circumstances-there-are-advantages-to-pleading-negligent-misrepresentation-against-an-insurer-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Under The Right Circumstances, There Are Advantages To Pleading Negligent Misrepresentation Against An Insurer In California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Joshua Haffner | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.losangelesinsurancelawyerblog.com\/2016\/06\/20\/right-circumstances-advantages-pleading-negligent-misrepresentation-insurer-california\/\" target=\"_blank\">Haffner Law<\/a> | June 20, 2016<\/p>\n<p>During an insurance claim, insureds are sometimes given incorrect information by the insurance company and its agents. Among other things, these misstatements may relate to the terms and requirements of the policy, the safety of the premises, or how repairs must be handled.\u00a0 False statements made in relation to an insurance claim can give rise to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/california-insurance-adjusters-can-sued-negligent-misrepresentation\/\" target=\"_blank\">negligent misrepresentation<\/a> claim.\u00a0 This can be a useful tool in litigation against insurance companies in some circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Although there are \u201cvarious tort theories\u201d an insurance company can be sued for, it is well known that bad faith is the \u201cmost prominent\u201d tort claim that can be asserted. <em>Bock v. Hansen<\/em> (2014) 225 Cal.App.4th 215, 228.)\u00a0 Generally, an insured cannot sue his or her insurance company for negligence.\u00a0 (<em>Sanchez v. Lindsay Morden Claims Services, Inc.<\/em> (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 249, 254.)\u00a0 However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/the-misrepresentation-defense-strikes-again\/\" target=\"_blank\">negligent misrepresentation<\/a> is a \u201cdifferent tort\u201d than negligence.\u00a0 (<em>Bock<\/em>, <em>supra<\/em>, 225 Cal.App.4th at 227.)\u00a0 Indeed, negligent misrepresentation is \u201ca species of the tort of deceit.\u201d\u00a0 (<em>Id.<\/em> at 228.)<\/p>\n<p>Under California law, under the right circumstances, a cause of action for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/insurers-motion-to-knock-out-bad-faith-negligent-misrepresentation-claims-in-construction-defect-case-denied\/\" target=\"_blank\">negligent misrepresentation<\/a> can be brought against an insurer.\u00a0 Pleading such a claim in litigation against an insurance company can have advantages.<\/p>\n<p>First, negligent misrepresentation claims provide a potentially broader avenue to pursue personal injury claims than a bad faith claim. This is because negligent misrepresentation prohibits \u201cproviding false information [which] poses a risk of and results in physical harm.\u201d\u00a0 (<em>Id.<\/em> at 229.)\u00a0 In one California case, a negligent misrepresentation claim was allowed for personal injuries to an insured who was told by the insurance company adjuster that they were obligated to clean up a tree limb.\u00a0 (<em>Id.<\/em> at 303-304.) In a bad faith claim, however, certain California case law has indicated that an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/design-errors-exception-to-the-economic-loss-doctrine\/\" target=\"_blank\">economic loss<\/a>\u201d may be required to recover.\u00a0 (<em>See Richards v. Sequoia Ins. Co. <\/em>(2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 431, 438.)\u00a0 When personal injuries are involved, a negligent misrepresentation claim may be the most viable claim against an insurance company.<\/p>\n<p>Second, a negligent misrepresentation claim allows for liability against the insurance agent or adjuster that made the misrepresentation. California case law has held that a \u201ccause of action for negligent misrepresentation can lie against an insurance adjuster.\u201d\u00a0 (<em>Id.<\/em> at 231.)<\/p>\n<p>Finally, a misrepresentation by an insurance company relied on by the insured often trumps unknown terms of the policy contrary to the misrepresentation. Insurance company\u2019s often assert the policyholder\u2019s \u201cduty to read\u201d the policy when relying on terms that the insured did not know about.\u00a0 California Courts, however, recognize that \u201ca very small percentage of policy-holders\u201d actually know the terms of their insurance policy.\u00a0 (<em>Eddy v. Sharp <\/em>(1988) 199 Cal.App.3d 859, 864.)\u00a0 A negligent misrepresentation lies despite unknown policy terms to the contrary because \u201can insured should be able to rely on an agent\u2019s representations of coverage without . . . examining the relevant policy provisions.\u201d\u00a0 (<em>Bock<\/em>, <em>supra<\/em>, 225 Cal.App.4th at 232.)<\/p>\n<p>A negligent misrepresentation claim is not often asserted in bad faith litigation against insurers. It does, however, offer certain advantages.\u00a0 Policyholders who have relied on false information by their insurance company, and were harmed because of it, should consider such a claim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joshua Haffner | Haffner Law | June 20, 2016 During an insurance claim, insureds are sometimes given incorrect information by the insurance company and its agents. Among other things, these misstatements may relate to the terms and requirements of the policy, the safety of the premises, or how repairs must be handled.\u00a0 False statements made&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/under-the-right-circumstances-there-are-advantages-to-pleading-negligent-misrepresentation-against-an-insurer-in-california\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Under The Right Circumstances, There Are Advantages To Pleading Negligent Misrepresentation Against An Insurer In California<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[3,9113],"class_list":["post-890321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-claims","tag-insurance-claims","tag-negligent-misrepresentation","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Under The Right Circumstances, There Are Advantages To Pleading Negligent Misrepresentation Against An Insurer In California - Advise &amp; 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