The Calif. Supreme Court ruled in favor of with Montrose, stating that the company "is entitled to access otherwise available coverage under any excess policy once it has exhausted directly underlying excess policies for the same policy period." (Photo: Shutterstock) The Calif. Supreme Court ruled in favor of with Montrose, stating that the company "is entitled to access otherwise available coverage under any excess policy once it has exhausted directly underlying excess policies for the same policy period." (Photo: Shutterstock)

In a decision described as a major victory for policyholders, the California Supreme Court has unanimously ruled in Montrose Chem. Corp. of Cal. v. Superior Court that policyholders do not always have to first exhaust all of their primary coverage over different policy periods to access excess coverage for certain years.

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