9th Cir.

CACHET FINANCIAL SERVICES V. BERKLEY INSURANCE COMPANY, ET AL.

July 21, 2026 ·2:22-cv-01157-SPG-JEM ·Unpublished · By Raj Patel

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a dismissal of an insurance coverage dispute, ruling that a Fraudulent Instructions Exclusion in the policy was not ambiguous.

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Background

Plaintiff Cachet Financial Services appealed the district court’s grant of defendants’ motion to dismiss in a commercial insurance coverage dispute.

The court’s reasoning

The court applied California state law and found the Fraudulent Instructions Exclusion unambiguous. It held that the defined term Fraudulent instruction did not apply to the exclusion and rejected the argument that coverage was illusory.

What it means going forward

Insurance policy exclusions are enforced according to their plain terms, limiting coverage when policy language clearly bars claims.