A California appellate court affirmed a ruling that a single, per occurrence limit applies under a commercial property policy issued to a cannabis business that was robbed. The case is Apex Solutions, Inc. v. Falls Lake Ins. Management Co., Inc., 2024 Cal. App. LEXIS 216 (Cal. Ct. App. 2024). 

Apex owned and operated a cannabis manufacturing and distribution business. One of their facilities was robbed in summer 2020 during the nationwide protests against the murder of George Floyd. Apex submitted a police report the morning after the robbery, stating that security footage showed a group of burglars breaking into and robbing two vaults at the Apex facility. A few months later, Apex amended this report to include a claim that the robberies of the two vaults had each been carried out by separate groups of burglars one hour apart. 

Apex timely filed a commercial property claim with its insurer, Falls Lake. Under a reservation of rights, Falls Lake claimed the robberies were actually a single occurrence and paid the $600,000 per occurrence policy limit. Apex asserted that the robberies had been made by two separate groups, so each robbery was a separate occurrence for which Apex was owed the policy limit. The dispute went unresolved, and Apex sued Falls Lake for breach of contract and implied covenant. The lower court ruled in favor of Falls Lake, and Apex appealed.