Another appellate victory!
On behalf of its client, Personnel Staffing Group, a national staffing company, RPNA Law won another hearing at the California Department of Insurance in the case of PSG v. Protective Insurance Company.
The case was heard before the Insurance Commissioner (Judge DeMaigret) of the State of California, who ruled:
1. The Commissioner has authority to adjudicate this appeal under Insurance Code section l l 737(f), because it involves the manner in which Protective applied its rating system, and the Side Agreements concern the transaction of insurance in California.
2. The unclean hands defense is unavailable to a carrier as a matter of law, because the appeal alleges a violation of lnsurance Code section 11658, a statute intended to protect consumers.
3. The Side Agreements constitute endorsements and ancillary agreements that were required to be filed under Insurance Code section 11658 and Regulations section 2268.
4. By conditioning its insurance program-including the program’s rate charges- on the untiled Side Agreements, Protective misapplied its filed rating system for purposes of Insurance Code section l l 737(f).
5. The untiled Side Agreements are illegal under Insurance Code section 11658 and void ab initio, as related to risks insured in California.
6. Pursuant to applicable case authority and the Commissioner’s precedential decisions in cases such as Adir and Davidson, both of which were also successfully handled by RPNA, the illegal unfiled Side Agreements are unenforceable as a matter of law, in relation to California risks.
You can read the entire decision here.
