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Insurer must face bad-faith trial over refusal to settle, defend policyholders - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Insurer must face bad-faith trial over refusal to settle, defend policyholders by Richard Sine Auto liability , Coverage Disputes , Excess and Surplus Lines Markel Jul 9, 2026 A Markel unit cannot use fraud allegations to escape a nearly $78 million dispute over a court award, a federal judge ruled on Monday. In Evanston Insurance Co. v. Enterprise Plan B Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, Evanston had sought a declaration that it did not owe a duty to defend or indemnify Enterprise Plan B in an underlying lawsuit brought by Alex and Eugenia Serrano Borja. Alex Borja was severely injured in 2017 when a plumber hired by home builder Enterprise Plan B ran a red light and crashed into his car. Evanston declined to defend the home builder, citing an exclusion for auto accidents involving employees. A state court awarded them nearly $78 million following a hearing before a special referee, at which the insurer did not participate. Then the insurer argued that the award was fraudulent because of flaws in how the hearing was conducted. Last year, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts ruled last year that Evanston breached its duty to defend Enterprise Plan B because there was reasonable doubt whether the plumber — an unlicensed contractor — could be considered an employee. At issue in Monday’s ruling was the insurer’s right to challenge a hearing when the insurer had played no part in the defense. Under California law, the judge said, insurers could only challenge the proceeding if issues outside the courtroom prevented the insurer from participating, such as the policyholder failing to inform the insurer of the existence of the lawsuit. The case continues. Evanston is a Deerfield, Illinois-based excess and surplus lines insurance subsidiary of Richmond, Virginia-based Markel. 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