Voluntary Parting Exclusion In Commercial Property and Liability Policy Upheld
In the unpublished case of PNS Jewelry, Inc. v. Penn-America Insurance Company,В No. B212348 (March 1), Division One of the Second Appellate District upheld the enforceability of Penn-American’s voluntary parting exclusion in a commercial property and liability policy issued to a jeweler.В PNS voluntarily parted with jewelry to an individual posing as an employee of a transport company.В The jeweler did not know he was being duped and the imposter did not force the turnover of the jewelry.В Penn-American denied the claim based on a policy exclusion excluding loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by “[v]oluntary parting with any property by [the insured] or anyone else to whom you have entrusted the property if induced to do so by any fraudulent scheme, trick, device or false pretense.”В The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer, and the jeweler appealed.В The Court of Appeal found the exclusion clear and conspicuous.В It noted that it was included in a list under the bold heading “Exclusions,” was not buried in a complex or unduly long section of unrelated items, and was not therefore comparable to the exclusion the Supreme Court refused to uphold in Haynes v. Farmers Insurance Exchange (2004) 32 Cal. 4th 1198.
March 1, 2010
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