(Bad Faith Action Dismissed as Plaintiff Was Not an
Insured and Had No Insurable Interest in Home Covered by Property
Policy)
(August 2021) - Wexler v. California
Fair Plan Assoc., 63 Cal.App.5th 55 (April 14, 2021),
discussed several important issues, finding: (1) individuals who
are not specifically named under the policy are not third party
beneficiaries and cannot sue for bad faith; (2) there is no
"special relationship" between an insurer and an insured;
and (3) an individual not named on a property policy does not have
an "insurable interest" under the policy.
Brooke Wexler lived with her parents in a home in a mountainous
area facing a fire danger. Wexler's parents, Kimberly and James
Talbot, owned the home and were insured by a California FAIR Plan.
FAIR Plan was created by the California legislature to give
homeowners in high risk areas access to basic property insurance.
The Talbots alleged smoke damage from the Woolsey wildfire in 2018,
but the
