Bluebonnet Express, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau

651 S.W.2d 345, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 4417
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 28, 1983
DocketB14-82-128CV
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 651 S.W.2d 345 (Bluebonnet Express, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bluebonnet Express, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau, 651 S.W.2d 345, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 4417 (Tex. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinions

MURPHY, Justice.

Appellant filed a motion for rehearing and also a motion for an en banc consideration of the procedural issues presented by this appeal. We grant the motion for rehearing, withdraw our former opinion, set aside our former judgment, deny the motion for an en banc consideration, and substitute this opinion for the one of February 24, 1983.

Bluebonnet Express, Inc. (Bluebonnet) ■ appeals the trial court’s judgment in favor of Employers Insurance of Wausau (Wau-sau) in the amount of $52,155.12 plus costs and attorney’s fees. Wausau brought suit on a sworn account under Tex.R.Civ.P. 185 to recover disputed insurance premiums computed by a retrospective premium plan formula. Trial was to the court. Appellant assigns six points of error, arguing under each point that .the trial court erred in particular actions because there was no evidence or insufficient evidence to sustain those actions. We sustain Appellant’s “no evidence” points, despite its failure to file any predicate motions which would have pointed out the inadequacy of the evidence to the trial court. Reversed and rendered.

Between March 1969 and January 1972, Wausau sold Bluebonnet a total of twelve policies, the final premiums of which were disputed. The premiums of the initial policies issued in March 1969 were calculated according to a “standard premium level dividend plan,” under which the amounts of the premiums were constant and dividends or rebates were computed as a set percentage of the premiums. Wausau computed these standard premiums by taking Bluebonnet’s previous high loss experience into account as a “loss ratio” factor (dollar amount of claimed losses divided by the premium paid), also termed an “experience modifier” by the State Board of Insurance. In response to Bluebonnet’s desire to reduce the premiums and avoid being penalized for past losses, Wausau recommended that the method of calculating the premiums be changed.

On March 1, 1970 Bluebonnet’s workers’ compensation, general liability, automobile liability and physical damage policies were converted from the “standard premium level dividend plan” to another premium formula known as “retrospective plan D.” Under the retrospective method of determining premiums, Wausau first estimated the annual premium due on each policy. This estimate, synonymous with “standard premium,” appeared on the face of the policies as a “total estimated annual premium.” At the end of each policy year, Wausau considered Bluebonnet’s actual claims under each policy during the prior year and adjusted each estimated premium accordingly. [347]*347The Wausau salesman who had direct dealings with Bluebonnet testified that the final premium due, after adjustment for claims during the pertinent period, could range from a minimum of 65% of the estimated premium, if losses were low, to a maximum of 135% of the estimated premium, if losses were high. Therefore, the losses incurred during the prior year had a direct effect on the choice of the multiplier within the range of 65% to 135%.

Wausau brought suit on a sworn account under Tex.R.Civ.P. 185 to recover amounts allegedly due as retrospectively calculated premiums under twelve policies issued to Bluebonnet for the period March 1970 to March 1972. Bluebonnet filed a proper verified denial under Tex.R.Civ.P. 93(k).

Trial was to the court. The evidence consisted of the testimony of two employees of Wausau and of the following documents:

Plaintiffs Exhibit 1: Standard Workmen’s Compensation and Employers’ Liability Insurance Policy No. 1612-00-047877, estimated annual premium of $12,821.00, policy period from 3-1-71 to 3-1-72;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 2: Standard Workmen’s Compensation and Employers’ Liability Insurance Policy No. 1619-00-047877, estimated annual premium of $14,707.00, policy period from 3-1-69 to 3-1-70;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3: Standard Workmen’s Compensation and Employers’ Liability Insurance Policy No. 1611-00-047877, estimated annual premium of $13,906.00, policy period from 3-1-70 to 3-1-71;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 4; Combination Casualty Policy No. 1622-00-047877, estimated annual premium of $46,157.00, policy period from 3-1-71 to 3-1-72; Plaintiff’s Exhibit 5: Demand letter dated 10-9-72 from Wausau’s Regional Credit Manager to Bluebonnet for the sum of $74,529.00;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 6: Demand letter dated 3-22-72 from Wausau’s Regional Credit Manager to Bluebonnet for the sum of $44,286.40;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7: Statement of Bluebonnet’s account for the period 1-2-71 to 8-1-74, showing dates of transactions, invoice numbers, charges, credits and a “final gross amount due” of $52,-155.12;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 8: Combination Casualty Policy No. 1621-00-047877, estimated annual premium of $13,198.00, policy period from 3-1-70 to 3-1-71;
Plaintiff’s Exhibit 9: Combination Casualty Policy No. 1622-00-047877, estimated annual premium of $46,157.00 policy period from 3-1-71 to 3-1-72. (Duplicate of Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 4).

Plaintiff’s Exhibits 1-6 were admitted into evidence with no objection by Bluebonnet’s counsel.

The contents of Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7, the account upon which Wausau brought suit, and the circumstances under which it was admitted into evidence deserve careful analysis. The balance due as shown on that document was $52,155.12, the same amount awarded to Wausau by the trial court.

Initially the account was excluded on several grounds, including lack of proper predicate, hearsay, irrelevance, and the best evidence rule (i.e., that the original invoices and not a ledger sheet summary would have been the best evidence of the claims.) After Plaintiff’s Exhibit 7 supposedly had been associated with Bluebonnet by the testimony of Jack Marsalis, a Wausau salesman who was in charge of Bluebonnet’s policies, the following interchange occurred:

PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL: Your Honor, I would again offer Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 7. The witness had identified it as the document received by Bluebonnet Express, Mr. Groves, that he received a copy of it showing the amount due on the account.
DEFENDANT’S COUNSEL: Your Hon- or, we would reurge the objections as to the hearsay rule and as to the best evidence rule. I would have to say, though, that this document has been connected up to my client now, and it would seem to me that it probably is admissible for the [348]*348sole reason that is an instrument received by my client showing what Mr. Edwards alleges is due, but not for the truth of anything contained therein.
THE COURT: I will permit it for that reason.... (emphasis added).

The witness then explained that the computations performed by the retrospective plan D method in late 1973 and 1974 accounted for the reduction of the balance due, as shown on the account, from $75,-360.90 to $52,155.12. The witness then acknowledged on voir dire that Plaintiffs Exhibit 7 could not be the document allegedly received by Jack Groves of Bluebonnet on January 30, 1973 since a number of entries, including credits, were made after that date. The following exchange occurred when the court placed a further limitation on the document’s probative value:

DEFENDANT’S COUNSEL: You testified earlier that Mr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Regan v. Lee
879 S.W.2d 133 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Westech Engineering, Inc. v. Clearwater Constructors, Inc.
835 S.W.2d 190 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
First American Title Co. of El Paso v. Prata
783 S.W.2d 697 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
Johnson v. McDonnell Douglas Corp.
745 S.W.2d 661 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1988)
Sentry Insurance Co. v. Radcliff Materials of Texas, Inc.
687 S.W.2d 437 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Northwest Mall, Inc. v. Lubri-Lon International, Inc.
681 S.W.2d 797 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1984)
Bluebonnet Express, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau
651 S.W.2d 345 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
651 S.W.2d 345, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 4417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bluebonnet-express-inc-v-employers-insurance-of-wausau-texapp-1983.