Brisco v. Meritplan Insurance

643 P.2d 1042, 132 Ariz. 72, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 402
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedApril 8, 1982
Docket1 CA-CIV 5196, 1 CA-CIV 5220
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 643 P.2d 1042 (Brisco v. Meritplan Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brisco v. Meritplan Insurance, 643 P.2d 1042, 132 Ariz. 72, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 402 (Ark. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

FROEB, Judge.

An automobile accident occurred in 1974 which was settled by payment of certain amounts to the two persons injured. Thereafter, one of the two injured persons brought this lawsuit on the ground that the insurance company failed to act in good faith in settling the claims involved. The trial court agreed and entered summary judgment in the sum of $86,761.05. The insurance company now appeals the decision on legal issues as there is no issue of material fact.

Plaintiffs Norris B. Brisco (Brisco) and Susan H. Anderson (Anderson) were pedestrians when they were struck by an automobile owned by Jon C. Poe and Irene Poe (Poe) but driven by Christopher J. Corr (Corr).

The Poe automobile was insured by Fireman's Fund American Insurance Companies (Fireman’s Fund) under a $300,000.00 combined, single limit policy.

Corr was insured by Meritplan Insurance Company (Meritplan), the defendant in this suit, under a policy having limits of $100,-000.00 for each person injured in a single accident and $300,000.00 for all persons injured in a single accident. The Meritplan policy served as excess coverage over the Fireman’s Fund policy.

*74 Anderson and Brisco filed separate lawsuits in Maricopa County Superior Court against Corr and Poe which were consolidated. Fireman’s Fund concluded that the combined damages of Anderson and Brisco exceeded its $300,000.00 coverage and tendered its policy limits to Meritplan, which assumed the defense of the two claims. Fireman’s Fund left it to Meritplan to decide how to allocate the $300,000.00 between Anderson and Brisco and how to combine Fireman’s Fund money with Merit-plan money to accomplish satisfaction of both claims. Meritplan thus had control over the allocation of up to $500,000.00 of insurance to satisfy the claims of Anderson and Brisco.

Meritplan settled the Anderson claim before trial for $163,238.95. It chose to apply $150,000.00 from the Fireman’s Fund policy and $13,238.95 from its own policy. That left $150,000.00 remaining under the Fireman’s Fund policy and $100,000.00 under the Meritplan policy, a total of $250,000.00. Meritplan offered this sum to Brisco in settlement. Brisco refused, but was willing to settle for $336,761.05. Meritplan refused.

The position of the parties at this point was as follows: Brisco claimed that Merit-plan owed its insured, Corr, the duty to apply the funds at its disposal in such a way as to make $336,761.05 available for settlement of the Brisco claim and thereby protect Corr from exposure to an excess verdict in the pending trial. Corr, through his own counsel, agreed. They argued that this could be done by allocating the funds for the Anderson settlement in a different manner. Rather than applying $150,000.00 of Fireman’s Fund money and only $13,-238.95 of Meritplan money, it could have applied $63,238.95 of Fireman’s Fund money and $100,000.00 of Meritplan money. Then, in addition to the $100,000.00 of coverage for Brisco under Meritplan’s policy, there would have been $236,761.05 in remaining funds from Fireman’s Fund.

From this standoff an unusual agreement was produced which is at the center of the case. Its purpose was to avoid: the necessity of a trial of the Brisco claim potentially resulting in an excess verdict, an assignment by Corr of his bad faith claim to Brisco, and a second lawsuit by Brisco against Meritplan to try the bad faith claim. The agreement was to “telescope” that process so that, in a single lawsuit, Brisco and Meritplan could litigate the narrow issue whether Meritplan’s duty of good faith to its insured, Corr, required it to allocate the funds expended for the Anderson settlement in such a manner as to make available $336,761.05 instead of $250,000.00 for settlement with Brisco.

The document which emerged from this is captioned “Covenant and Agreement Not to Sue, Execute or Levy” 1 (hereafter referred to as the agreement). Although it is signed only by Brisco, Meritplan paid $250,000.00 to Brisco in accordance with its terms. Specific provisions are hereafter discussed in context.

INSURER’S DUTY OF GOOD FAITH

Before reaching the specific issues raised in this appeal, we review briefly some general principles. An automobile liability insurer owes to its insured a good faith duty to terminate a claim against its insured by settlement. Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Henderson, 82 Ariz. 335, 313 P.2d 404 (1957). Bad faith of an insurer in failing to settle a claim within the policy limits exposes the insurer to full liability for a judgment thereafter obtained. Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Hudson, 15 Ariz.App. 371, 488 P.2d 1008 (1971). In determining whether to settle, an insurer must give equal consideration to both its interest and the interest of the insured. Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Henderson, supra; Fulton v. Woodford, 26 Ariz.App. 17, 545 P.2d 979 (1976). By the same token, where an insurer acts honestly and in good faith on adequate information, it should not be held liable for excess liability due to its failure to reach a settlement. General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corp. v. Little, 103 Ariz. 435, 443 P.2d 690 (1968).

*75 DID MERITPLAN BREACH ITS DUTY OF GOOD FAITH TO ITS INSURED?

Brisco defends the decision of the trial court by pointing out that it is the bookkeeping employed by Meritplan, dealing not only with money from its own policy but money from the Fireman’s Fund policy as well, that produced liability for the bad faith claim. Brisco’s position, simply put, is that Meritplan should have used less money from the Fireman’s Fund policy to settle the Anderson claim so that there would be enough left from both policies to settle the Brisco claim.

Meritplan contends that by settling the automobile case with Brisco and obtaining the agreement, it thereby fully and completely protected Corr, its insured, from personal liability. Meritplan argues that it thereby completely satisfied its duty of good faith toward its insured and exposed Corr to no harm whatever. While this argument is correct, it overlooks the fact that Meritplan accepted the agreement by paying upon it and, in turn, agreed upon the continued existence of the underlying bad faith claim. The agreement put the bad faith issue in a new posture. Corr was protected, yes, but Brisco thereby gained the right to proceed directly against Merit-plan for bad faith in apportioning the proceeds of both policies. The agreement released Corr from all liability and at the same time placed a limit on Brisco’s potential automobile damage recovery at an amount equal to $86,761.05, assuring Merit-plan that its ultimate liability would be within policy limits. The net effect of the agreement was to end the automobile litigation and open the way for resolution of the bad faith bookkeeping issue.

DOES THE AGREEMENT RELEASE MERITPLAN FROM ALL LIABILITY TO BRISCO?

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Bluebook (online)
643 P.2d 1042, 132 Ariz. 72, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brisco-v-meritplan-insurance-arizctapp-1982.