AMERICAN NATIONAL GENERAL IN. CO. v. Rivera

217 P.3d 1257, 2007 WL 3025308
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 18, 2007
Docket06CA0381
StatusPublished

This text of 217 P.3d 1257 (AMERICAN NATIONAL GENERAL IN. CO. v. Rivera) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AMERICAN NATIONAL GENERAL IN. CO. v. Rivera, 217 P.3d 1257, 2007 WL 3025308 (Colo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

217 P.3d 1257 (2007)

AMERICAN NATIONAL GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Colorado Certificate of Authority No. 1885, Respondent-Appellant,
v.
David F. RIVERA, Commissioner of Insurance, and Colorado Division of Insurance, Appellees.

No. 06CA0381.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. III.

October 18, 2007.
Certiorari Denied February 25, 2008.

*1258 Pryor Johnson Carney Karr Nixon, P.C., Elizabeth C. Moran, Greenwood Village, Colorado, for Respondent-Appellant.

John W. Suthers, Attorney General, Roxane D. Baca, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Appellees.

Opinion by Judge NIETO.[*]

American National General Insurance Company (insurer) appeals from a final agency order entered by the Commissioner of Insurance, David F. Rivera, finding that certain exclusions in the collision coverage of an automobile insurance policy issued by insurer *1259 were in violation of Colorado insurance law. We affirm.

This action arises under the former Colorado Auto Accident Reparations Act (No-Fault Act), Colo. Sess. Laws 1992, ch. 219, § 10-4-710(3) at 1780 (requiring insurers to offer collision coverage), and Colo. Sess Laws. 1973, ch. 94, § 13-25-3(7) at 335 (later codified as § 10-4-703(6) )(defining "insured"). All citations here to Colorado Revised Statutes title 10, article 4, part 7 refer to the statutes as they existed before their repeal effective July 1, 2003.

In 2001, insurer issued an automobile insurance policy to its insured that contained collision coverage. Under that policy, the policyholder was the only named insured.

On February 23, 2003, with permission from the named insured, a friend who lived with him borrowed the covered car. As the friend was driving the car, it skidded on ice and went into a ditch. It is undisputed that the friend had been living at the named insured's residence since 2000, she was not listed as a driver on the policy declarations, and she was driving the car with the named insured's permission. The cost to repair the damage to the car was $9,179.36.

The named insured promptly notified insurer of the accident, but his claim was denied based on a policy provision that read, as pertinent here:

COVERAGE E—COLLISION
We will pay for loss to your insured car caused by collision between it and another object or its upset, less any applicable deductibles.
. . . .
ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS APPLYING TO COVERAGE E—COLLISION ONLY
We will not pay for loss to your insured car caused by collision if the operator of your insured car is a licensed driver who resides with you and is not listed on the Declarations as a driver. This restriction shall not apply if you notify us within 90 days after the date the driver becomes licensed or begins living with you.

(Original emphasis omitted and emphasis added.)

The named insured then filed a complaint with the Division of Insurance, which, in turn, requested an explanation from insurer as to why it failed to cover a permissive user of the car. Insurer responded that because the named insured failed to notify insurer that the driver resided with him, the collision restriction precluded coverage.

The Division filed a notice of charges against insurer, alleging, in pertinent part, that the collision restriction was impermissible under the No-Fault Act. Insurer countered that (1) the definition of "insured" under § 10-4-703(6) should not apply; and (2) because collision coverage was not statutorily mandated, the collision restriction was merely a matter of contract to be evaluated under contract principles. The charges went to a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ).

The ALJ issued a written final decision concluding that (1) the definition of "insured" in § 10-4-703(6) applied to all coverages, including collision coverage; (2) § 10-4-710(3) did not limit the definition of "insured"; and (3) insurer's collision restriction was invalid because it attempted to restrict the statutory definition of "insured" in the No-Fault Act.

The Commissioner adopted the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the ALJ, concluding that the collision coverage restriction was in violation of the No-Fault Act.

This appeal followed.

I. Standard of Review

When reviewing final agency actions, we must examine the record in the light most favorable to the agency decision. Whether the record contains substantial evidence to support the agency decision is a question of law. Rigmaiden v. Colo. Dep't of Health Care Policy & Fin., 155 P.3d 498, 501 (Colo.App.2006). We review an agency's statutory interpretation do novo, but we give deference to its interpretation of a statute it is charged with administering. We generally accept that interpretation if it has a reasonable basis in law and is warranted by the record. Colo. Dep't of Revenue v. Hibbs, 122 *1260 P.3d 999, 1002 (Colo.2005); Nededog v. Colo. Dep't of Health Care Policy & Fin., 98 P.3d 960, 962 (Colo.App.2004).

II. Violation of the No-Fault Act

Insurer contends that the Commissioner erred in concluding, as a matter of law, that the collision coverage restriction violated the No-Fault Act. We disagree.

Our primary task in construing a statute is to interpret the statutory provisions in accord with the General Assembly's purpose and intent in enacting them. In re 2003-2004 Term of State Grand Jury, 148 P.3d 440, 444 (Colo.App.2006). To discern that intent, we rely on the language of the statute and give the words used their plain and ordinary meaning. Section 2-4-101, C.R.S.2006; In re 2003-2004 Term of State Grand Jury, supra.

The No-Fault Act must be viewed in the light of the obvious statutory scheme. It is fundamental that all of the No-Fault Act must be read and construed in context. Travelers Indem. Co. v. Barnes, 191 Colo. 278, 283, 552 P.2d 300, 303 (1976). The purpose of the No-Fault Act is, in pertinent part, to avoid inadequate compensation to victims of automobile accidents. Wiglesworth v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 917 P.2d 288, 291 (Colo.1996).

Insurance policy provisions that attempt to dilute, restrict, or condition coverage required by the No-Fault Act are void and invalid. Winscom v. Garza, 843 P.2d 126, 128 (Colo.App.1992). Exclusions under a contract of insurance must be consistent with the requirements of the No-Fault Act, or they are void as against public policy. Finizio v. Am. Hardware Mut. Ins. Co., 967 P.2d 188, 190 (Colo.App.1998). Further, if an insurance contract fails to comply with a statute, that statute will be read into the contract. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. McMichael,

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American National General Insurance Co. v. Rivera
217 P.3d 1257 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
217 P.3d 1257, 2007 WL 3025308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-national-general-in-co-v-rivera-coloctapp-2007.