Allied Premier Insurance, a Risk Retention Group; a Connecticut corporation v. United Financial Casualty Company, an Ohio corporation

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ALLIED PREMIER INSURANCE, a Risk
Retention Group; a Connecticut corporation,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
UNITED FINANCIAL CASUALTY
COMPANY, an Ohio corporation,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 20-55099
D.C. No.
5:18-cv-00088-JGB-KK
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Jesus G. Bernal, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted February 11, 2021
Submission Withdrawn March 22, 2021
Resubmitted September 19, 2023
Pasadena, California
Before: O’SCANNLAIN, CALLAHAN, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.
United Financial Casualty Company appeals from the district court’s grant of
summary judgment to Allied Premier Insurance. Because the facts are known to the
parties, we repeat them only as necessary to explain our decision.
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
FILED
SEP 19 2023
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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The only issue on appeal is whether California’s Motor Carriers of Property
Permit Act (“MCPPA”), Cal. Veh. Code §§ 34600 et seq., continued the coverage
of United’s insurance policy with Porras after the policy otherwise ended by its own
terms. The district court relied on California precedent interpreting an earlier
version of the statute to determine that United’s policy continued through Porras’s
accident, and United was thus liable for equitable contribution to Allied. The district
court also entered judgment for Allied on its equitable subrogation and declaratory
relief claims. Mindful of the statutory changes since earlier California precedents,
we certified this state law question to the California Supreme Court. Allied Premier
Ins. v. United Fin. Cas. Co., 991 F.3d 1070 (9th Cir. 2021). Its answer decides this
appeal.
“The duration of the policy’s coverage is regulated by its terms and those of
any endorsement or amendment to the policy itself.” Allied Premier Ins. v. United
Fin. Cas. Co., 15 Cal. 5th 20, 39 (2023). United’s policy with Porras terminated
automatically when Porras did not renew the policy. The MCPPA did not extend its
duration. Id. at 34. (“[T]he Act does not prevent cancellation or termination of an
insurance policy under the terms of the contract.”).
United’s policy coverage terminated before Porras’s accident. Accordingly,
the district court’s summary judgment on Allied’s claims for equitable
contribution, equitable subrogation, and declaratory relief must be reversed.

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REVERSED.

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