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Hinton v. Grange Insurance Group11/6/2002
fendant. The court reasoned there is no danger the defaulting defendants will be taken by surprise by judgments entered against them because they will be in possession of the essential information necessary to calculate their potential exposure. (Id. at pp. 1163-1164.) In the present case, Beck was not privy to the essential information necessary to calculate his potential exposure; he merely participated in settlement discussions in which broad estimates of Hinton's possible recovery were discussed.
Finally, Hinton relies on Burch v. Hibernia Bank (1956) 146 Cal.App.2d 422 (Burch). In Burch, the appellate court found the rule that a default judgment in excess of the prayer in the complaint is void had no application in a suit to quiet title. The court noted the plaintiff had notice the judgment would be taken against him and consented to the judgment as entered. (Id. at pp. 430-431.) However, in Burch, the court considered not a discrepancy between the amount of damages prayed for in the complaint and the damages awarded, but the discrepancy between the wording of the relief requested and the wording of the final judgment. (Ibid.) We also find Burch distinguishable.
In the present case, the judgment entered against Beck in the underlying action was in excess of the amount set forth in the improperly served statement of damages in violation of Code of Civil Procedure section 580. The statement of damages requested $722,146.75. The court awarded over $2 million. More importantly, the default entered against Beck was void because of lack of proper service as required by Code of Civil Procedure section 425.11. An action pursuant to Insurance Code section 11580 must include a valid enforceable judgment in the underlying action. Since the default judgment against Beck was void because of lack of personal service, Hinton failed to state a cause of action against Grange.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed. Grange shall recover costs on appeal.
We concur:
CALLAHAN, J.
ROBIE, J.
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