The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court's granting of summary judgment to the insurer who did not issue the policy to the insureds. The case is Steinhauer v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., No. 20-35837, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 35457 (9th Cir. Dec. 1, 2021).

Sherrell and Joanne Steinhauer had a homeowners insurance policy that identified Liberty Insurance Corporation as the issuer of the policy. The policy stated "[w]e will provide the insurance described in this policy in return for the premium and compliance with all applicable provisions of this policy[,]" and the policy defined the term " [w]e" as referring to the company providing the insurance. After an occurrence and some alleged wrongdoing on the part of the insurer, the Steinhauers sued Liberty Mutual to recover their losses. In the lawsuit, the Steinhauers failed to demonstrate that Liberty Mutual was the issuer of their policy. The appeals court found that the district court correctly ruled that the Steinhauers sued the wrong insurance company.

Further, the Ninth Circuit found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying permission for a very untimely proposed amendment to the complaint. The Steinhauers filed their motion to amend over a year after the court's deadline to join parties, and also failed to demonstrate good cause to justify such a late amendment. The Steinhauers had been informed early in the case, both from opposing counsel and from the court, that they had sued the wrong party, but they still failed to substitute or add the correct defendant in a timely manner.