Ansert ex rel. Ansert v. Adams

678 N.E.2d 839, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 388, 1997 WL 175026
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 14, 1997
DocketNo. 10A01-9609-CV-299
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 678 N.E.2d 839 (Ansert ex rel. Ansert v. Adams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ansert ex rel. Ansert v. Adams, 678 N.E.2d 839, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 388, 1997 WL 175026 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

OPINION

HOFFMAN, Judge.

Appellants-plaintiffs Donald R. Ansert, through his wife as his guardian, Joan An-sert, appeal the summary judgment entered in favor of Federal Insurance Company on the Anserts’ claims for compensatory and punitive damages against Federal for the tortious breach of its duty to deal in good faith and for conversion. The facts relevant to review are recited below.

In April 1992, Donald, who was president and owner of Ansert Mechanical Contractors, suffered catastrophic personal injuries in a head-on automobile collision caused by the drunk driving of William Keith Adams, Jr. Medical bills at the time of the underlying proceedings approximate $800,000. Donald’s brain injuries have required his institutionalization which costs in excess of $10,000 per month. As yet, Donald’s total damages have not been determined. Donald is married and has five children. Adams’ automobile insurance policy for liability had a limit of $100,-000.

[840]*840Donald was insured under two separate insurance policies issued by Federal. The first was a business automobile liability policy with $1,000,000 in uninsured/underinsured coverage. The second policy was for worker’s compensation benefits through Donald’s business.

Several disputes have arisen between the Anserts and Federal. One dispute involved interpretation of the underinsured coverage provided by the business automobile policy. Another dispute developed regarding whether Donald’s injuries were work-related and, thus, whether they were covered under worker’s compensation. In separate actions, the disputes have been litigated to the point of a previous appellate court decision and at the worker’s compensation board level.

With respect to the first dispute, Federal argued that the underinsured motorist endorsement contained a provision which reduced the limit of underinsured motorist coverage by any amount Ansert might recover from worker’s compensation. Ultimately, Federal paid Donald the $1,000,000 policy limit under the underinsured motorists provision and obtained subrogation rights to the $100,000 coverage provided by Adams’ insurer. Federal argued that payment of the $1,000,000 policy limit required Donald to hold in trust for Federal any worker’s compensation benefits he might ultimately be awarded up to the $1,000,000 policy limit of the automobile policy. Federal obtained summary judgment against the Anserts with respect to its interpretation of the insurance policy. The Anserts appealed. In a memorandum decision, this Court affirmed summary judgment in part, holding that Federal had satisfied its policy limit and had obtained subrogation rights to the proceeds under Adams’ policy by paying the Anserts $1,000,-000. Ansert v. Federal Insurance Company, Ind.App. No. 10A01-9409-CV-314 (memorandum decision June 2, 1995). However, summary judgment was reversed in part. It was determined that the worker’s compensation reduction provision was ambiguous and was to be construed against Federal. Id. As a result, the worker’s compensation award was to be applied to reduce the Anserts’ total compensatory damages, not the $1,000,000 limit of the automobile policy.

In the instant proceedings, the Anserts claim Federal tortiously breached its duty to deal in good faith stemming from settlement negotiations in 1993. After Federal paid the Anserts’ $100,000 to secure its subrogation rights, Federal attempted to settle the balance of its liability under the business automobile policy by offering the Anserts an additional $950,000 contingent upon receiving $50,000 from Adams’ insurer as partial reimbursement of it subrogation claim. In effect, Federal was offering the policy limit of $1,000,000 computed as $100,000 4- 950,000 - $50,000 = $1,000,000. The settlement offer also contained the following provision:

In making this settlement, Federal Insurance Company is waiving the set off it is entitled to under [the worker’s compensation reduction provision of the policy] and will require a waiver, release and indemnity agreement from the Anserts for any claim for worker’s compensation benefits that may be brought by or on behalf of Donald Ansert or anyone or entity claiming reimbursement under a theory of worker’s compensation from Federal Insurance Company or any other company allied with it.

As it now appears, the Anserts would have forgone over one million dollars in worker’s compensation benefits had the 1993 offer been accepted.

The Anserts’ claim of bad faith rests on the argument that, because it was reasonably clear that the damages would exceed $1,000,-000, Federal was obligated to tender the $1,000,000 limit of the underinsured coverage of the business automobile policy with no strings attached. Thus, the Anserts argue that Federal’s offer of the policy limit of the business automobile policy to influence the settlement of the separate worker’s compensation policy claim constituted bad faith as violative of IND. CODE § 27-4-1-4.5(13) (1991 Supp.) which lists the following unfair settlement practice:

Failing to promptly settle claims, where liability has become reasonably clear, under one (1) portion of the insurance policy coverage in order to influence settlements [841]*841under other portions of the insurance policy coverage.

The trial court granted Federal’s motion enjoining the Anserts from conducting discovery on the bad faith claim. Ultimately, the trial court granted Federal’s motion for summary judgment on the bad faith and conversion claims. This appeal ensued. Additional facts are supplied as necessary.

As restated, the Anserts present one issue on appeal: whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Federal on the issue of bad faith.

Review of a ruling on summary judgment requires this Court to implement the same standard used by the trial court. This Court must liberally construe all designated eviden-tiary matter in favor of the non-moving party and resolve any doubt against the moving party. Even if it appears that the non-moving party will not succeed at trial, summary judgment is inappropriate where material facts conflict or undisputed facts lead to conflicting inferences. Where material facts are not in dispute, the issue is the application of the law to the facts. Fidelity Financial Services v. Sims, 630 N.E.2d 572, 574 (Ind.Ct.App.1994).

In reaffirming the duty of an insurer to deal in good faith with its insured and recognizing a cause of action in tort for breach of that duty, our supreme court in Erie Ins. Co. v. Hickman by Smith, 622 N.E.2d 515, 520 (Ind.1993) also noted that a cause of action will not arise every time an insurance claim is denied. Regarding the evidence necessary for an award of punitive damages, the court stated:

The standard for awarding punitive damages for the commission of a tort remains unchanged. Punitive damages may be awarded only if there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant ‘acted with malice, fraud, gross negligence, or oppressiveness which was not the result of a mistake of fact or law, honest error or judgment, overzealousness, mere negligence, or other human failing, in the sum [that the juiy believes] will serve to punish the defendant and to deter it and others from like conduct in the future.’

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678 N.E.2d 839, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 388, 1997 WL 175026, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ansert-ex-rel-ansert-v-adams-indctapp-1997.