California State Automobile Association Inter-Insurance Bureau V. Superior Court

We seek in this case to resolve a lingering question arising from our decision in Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Companies (1988) 46 Cal. 3d 287 [250 Cal. Rptr. 116, 758 P.2d 58] (hereafter Moradi-Shalal). In Moradi-Shalal, we held, contrary to our earlier decision in Royal Globe Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (1979) 23 Cal. 3d 880 [153 Cal. Rptr. 842, 592 P.2d 329] (hereafter Royal Globe), that Insurance Code section 790.03, subdivision (h) (hereafter section 790.03(h)), does not confer on private parties a statutory cause of action against insurance companies for damages for unfair practices. We overruled Royal Globe prospectively only, however: Any then pending actions by private parties seeking relief for alleged violations of section 790.03(h) could proceed. (Moradi-Shalal, supra, 46 Cal. 3d at pp. 292, 305.)