But your premium dollars pay for insurance benefits far beyond those kinds of situations. The first duty, referred to as the defense obligation, is generally held to be much broader than the duty to pay for liability. The duty to defend is often held to apply when there is just a potential for a claim that would be within the coverage of your insurance policy. In California, as well as in many other states, a wide variety of claims have been held to impose on insurance companies a duty to pay for the defense of their policyholders under both homeowners' and CGL insurance policies.
Insurance policies are contracts.
When people have questions about their rights under contracts, such as leases and purchase agreements, they often go to lawyers. Questions about an insurance policy should be no different. As a policyholder, you have certain rights and obligations. Those rights and obligations may not always be entirely clear. It is often beneficial to discuss your rights and duties with a lawyer before addressing issues with the other party to a contract.