Haynes v. Farmers Insurance Exchange

BROWN, J.

I concur but write separately to clarify my understanding of the majority’s holding. Finding the provision purporting to limit the coverage for permissive users of an insured vehicle neither conspicuous, plain nor clear, the majority notes that Farmers Insurance Exchange (Farmers) need not necessarily “correct all of the identified deficiencies in order to render a permissive user limitation enforceable” and that “[t]here may be a number of ways for Farmers to correct the problem.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1212, fn. 9.) In doing so, I assume the majority is eschewing any suggestion that insurers, when making policy changes, must or should issue a new document which physically incorporates these changes. Indeed, such a suggestion would create an administrative nightmare for both insurers and insureds, and likely result in more confusion over the scope of coverage. Thus, our decision today does not, in any way, preclude insurers from making policy changes through endorsements attached to the end of existing policies. (See, e.g., Continental Cas. Co. v. Phoenix Constr. Co. (1956) 46 Cal.2d 423, 430-432 [296 P.2d 801] [enforcing two endorsements that were not physically incorporated into a new document].)