14.18.4 Re-Litigation of Underlying Claims.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

14.18.4 Re-Litigation of Underlying Claims. Although insureds’ claims against insurance producers are assignable,²⁵⁹ an insurance producer is not bound to the result in the underlying tort action between a third-party claimant and the insured unless the insurance producer was made a party to that lawsuit.²⁶⁰ Webb makes clear that an insurance producer is not precluded from re-litigating the issues in the underlying tort case after a claim was assigned.²⁶¹ The court there stated that, unlike an insurer, an insurance producer generally has no contractual duty to defend and indemnify the client.²⁶² Thus, absent a pre-existing duty to defend and indemnify, there is no basis for concluding that insurance producers should be bound by stipulated judgments to which they were not parties.²⁶³ Principles of issue preclusion suggest that the insurance producer would be “barred from re-litigating an issue only if, among other things...