Brickman Group Ltd. v. CGU Insurance

56 Pa. D. & C.4th 491, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 223
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedMarch 26, 2002
Docketno. 0909
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 56 Pa. D. & C.4th 491 (Brickman Group Ltd. v. CGU Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Brickman Group Ltd. v. CGU Insurance, 56 Pa. D. & C.4th 491, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 223 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

HERRON, J.,

Presently before this court is defendant CGU Insurance Co.’s motion for partial reconsideration of this court’s order of October 8, 2001, denying defendant CGU’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff, the Brickman Group Ltd., has filed its response in opposition to the motion for reconsideration.

For the reasons set forth in this opinion, this court is granting the motion for partial reconsideration and entering summary judgment in favor of CGU on all remaining counts of plaintiff’s amended complaint.

BACKGROUND

This dispute arises over defendant CGU’s alleged failure to abide by a purported agreement to sell a full program of various types of liability insurance to plaintiff Brickman under the same terms and conditions, including premium rates, for a six-year period between July 1, 1997, and July 1, 2003. (See second am. compl. ¶1.1) According to the complaint, the purported agreement, containing both oral and written promises, which sup[494]*494posedly spanned six years, is referred to as the “insurance program guarantee.” Id. at ¶¶9-15.

Certain material facts are undisputed. First and foremost, the parties do not dispute that the insurance policies sold to Brickman do not contain any of the terms of the insurance program guarantee. (See def.’s mem. of law in support of def. ’ s mot. for summ. j. at 5; pi.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at ll.)2 It is also undisputed that the insurance policies are annual policies, each having a term of 12 months from July 1 of one year to July 1 of the next year. (See def.’s mem. of law in support of def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 6; pl.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 12.) Further, it is undisputed that the insurance policies cover risks within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (See def.’s mem. of law in support of def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 6; pl.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 12.) These same insurance policies contain both state-mandated and customized notice provisions, relating to “non-renewal notification” and “renewal premium quotation commitment.” (See def.’s mem. of law in support of def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 6-8; pl.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 13-15.)

In addition, Brickman did not pay additional monies for the purported insurance program guarantee, beyond the premiums paid for the insurance policies. (See def.’s [495]*495mem. of law in support of def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 11; pl.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 21.) Rather, Brickman relied upon the insurance program guarantee in moving its business from Royal Insurance Company to CGU in 1997. (See def.’s mem. of law in support of def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 12; pl.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 22.) And in the years that followed, Brickman remained with CGU instead of moving its insurance business in reliance on the insurance program guarantee. (See def.’s mem. of law in support of def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 12; pl.’s mem. of law in opposition to def.’s mot. for summ. j. at 22-23.)

Even if other facts are in dispute, the above-stated undisputed facts are fatal to plaintiff’s breach of contract claims since those claims are singularly based on the insurance program guarantee.

DISCUSSION

In its motion for partial reconsideration, defendants focus on the narrow issue of whether the insurance program guarantee, upon which plaintiff bases its breach of contract claim(s), is unenforceable and illegal under Pennsylvania law because it violates 40 P.S. §2753 and 40 P.S. §4714 since this purported agreement is not specified in the insurance policies themselves. Plaintiff, in turn, argues that the insurance program guarantee cannot be considered a “rebate” or “inducement” as those terms [496]*496are used in either section of title 40. Further, plaintiff argues that CGU’s motion is untimely, having been filed approximately five months after this court’s order, dated October 8, 2001.

Generally, “[mjotions for reconsideration are discouraged unless the facts or law not previously brought to the attention of the court are raised.” S.A. Arbittier et al., Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Civil Practice Manual, §7-2.8 (10th ed. 2000). A court has inherent power to reconsider its own rulings. Moore v. Moore, 535 Pa. 18, 25, 634 A.2d 163, 167 (1993); Hutchison v. Luddy, 417 Pa. Super. 93, 108, 611 A.2d 1280, 1288 (1992). See 42 Pa.C.S. §5505 (trial court may reconsider its own order within 30 days of entering the order). “The statute limiting the time for reconsideration of orders to 30 days applies only to final, appealable orders.” Hutchison, 417 Pa. Super. at 108, 611 A.2d at 1288. “Where an order does not effectively place the litigant out of court or end the lawsuit, it is within the trial court’s discretion to entertain a motion to reconsider the interlocutory order outside the 30-day time limit set forth in 42 Pa.C.S. §5505.” Id.5 See also, Key Automotive Equipment Specialists Inc. v. Abernethy, 431 Pa. Super. 358, 362, 636 A.2d 1126, 1128 (1994) (holding that trial court properly exercised its discretion to sua sponte reconsider its order, denying preliminary objections, beyond the 30-day time limit as the order was interlocutory).

Under the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, the court must grant summary judgment if (1) there is no [497]*497genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense that could be established by additional discovery or expert report, or (2) after the completion of discovery, a party bearing the burden of proof on an issue has failed to produce evidence of facts essential to the cause of action or defense such that a jury could return a verdict in his favor. Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2. The moving party has the “burden to prove that there is no genuine issue of material fact.” Hagans v. Constitution State Service Co., 455 Pa. Super. 231, 254, 687 A.2d 1145, 1156 (1997). Once the moving party meets this burden, the non-moving party “must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Id. at 254, 687 A.2d at 1156. The trial court’s function is to “determine whether there are controverted issues of fact, not whether there is sufficient evidence to prove the particular facts.” Id. at 254, 687 A.2d at 1157. A motion for summary judgment “must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and all doubts as the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the moving party.” Pennsylvania State University v. County of Centre, 532 Pa. 142, 145, 615 A.2d 303, 304 (1992). “Only where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and it is clear that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law will summary judgment be entered.”

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56 Pa. D. & C.4th 491, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brickman-group-ltd-v-cgu-insurance-pactcomplphilad-2002.