What is the test for a 10 percent penalty under section 5814 of the California Motor Vehicle Accident Benefits Act?

The fact that payment of the award was delayed by the pendency of a petition for review, for which there is a reasonable basis, is not a ground for the assessment of a penalty under the provisions of section 5814. ⁶ The applicable principles were enunciated in Kerley v. Workmen's [50 Cal.App.3d 652] Comp. App. Bd. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 223, 93 Cal.Rptr. 192, 481 P.2d 200, as follows: 'In summary, we hold that the only satisfactory excuse for delay in payment of disability benefits, whether prior to or subsequent to an award, is genuine doubt from a medical or legal standpoint as to liability for benefits, and that the burden is on the employer or his carrier to present substantial evidence on which a finding of such doubt may be based.' (4 Cal.3d at p. 230, 93 Cal.Rptr. at p. 197, 481 P.2d at p. 205.) It has long been recognized that the exercise of a right accorded by law, at least in a case in which there is a reasonable basis to seek reconsideration and review on a legal issue as to which there is a genuine doubt, cannot give rise to the imposition of a 10 percent penalty under the provisions found in section 5814.

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