Cochran v. Great West Cas. Co.

67 P.3d 1123
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 29, 2003
Docket28174-1-II
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 67 P.3d 1123 (Cochran v. Great West Cas. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cochran v. Great West Cas. Co., 67 P.3d 1123 (Wash. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

67 P.3d 1123 (2003)
116 Wash.App. 636

Robert N. COCHRAN and Patricia A. Cochran, husband and wife and the marital community comprised thereof, Appellants,
v.
GREAT WEST CASUALTY COMPANY, a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Washington, Respondent.

No. 28174-1-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

April 9, 2003.
Publication Ordered April 29, 2003.

*1124 Christopher John Mahoney, Paine, Kilpatrick, & Coleman, PC, Tacoma, WA, for Appellant.

David Michael Jacobi, Wilson, Smith, Cochran, Dickerson, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

QUINN-BRINTNALL, A.C.J.

While driving truck for his employer, C.T. Express (CTE), Robert Cochran was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident with an underinsured motorist. Cochran sued Great West Casualty Co., his employer's insurance carrier, for Under Insured Motorist (UIM) policy limits equal to the liability coverage that applied to the vehicle—$1 million. Cochran claimed that Great West failed to obtain CTE's rejection of such limits in writing as required under RCW 48.22.030 and, therefore, the UIM coverage was equal to the liability coverage. The trial court granted Great West's motion for summary judgment. We hold that because the bid form CTE submitted through its insurance broker expressly selected an alternate amount of UIM coverage, CTE waived the maximum policy limits in writing as required by RCW 48.22.030. We affirm.

FACTS

In early August 1998, Cochran was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident with an underinsured motorist on Highway 93 in Nevada. At the time, Cochran was driving a Freightliner truck owned by his employer, CTE. Great West insured the CTE vehicle under a policy providing $1 million in liability coverage and $60,000 UIM coverage. CTE vice president David Smith obtained the auto policy through insurance brokers Raleigh, Schwarz & Powell.

Washington requires that insurers (Great West) must offer UIM coverage in an amount equal to the insured's third party liability coverage. RCW 48.22.030(2)-(3). Insureds (CTE) may reject UIM coverage altogether, or may reject UIM coverage as high as the liability limits, provided they reject these coverages in writing. RCW 48.22.030(4).

In this case, CTE selected the UIM coverage it wanted by signing a UIM selection form that paraphrased RCW 48.22.030, explaining that insurers must make UIM coverage available but that insureds may reject that coverage:

Underinsured Motorists Insurance (including uninsured motorists insurance) must be provided for either bodily injury liability or bodily injury and property damage liability. The bodily injury coverage must be provided at limits equal to the policy's liability limit(s) but not higher than that limit(s). I have the right to reject this coverage in writing or select limits lower than the policy's liability limit(s).

*1125 Clerk's Papers (CP) at 68. Following this advisement, the form provided the insureds with several UIM options. CTE selected the two indicated below:

(Please "X" request.)

____ I want to reject Underinsured Motorists Insurance. ____ I want to purchase Underinsured Motorists Insurance at limits of $25,000/$50,000 (Basic Limits). X Instead of the basic limits above, I want to purchase Underinsured Motorists Insurance at higher limits of $60,000/CSL . ____ I want to reject Underinsured Motorists Property Damage Coverage. ____ I want to purchase Underinsured Motorists Property Damage Coverage at a limit of $10,000 per occurrence (Minimum Limit). X Instead of the minimum limit above, I want to purchase Underinsured Motorists Property Damage Coverage at a higher limit of included. ____ I want to reject Auto Loan Coverage on my "private passenger type autos." ____ I want to purchase Auto Loan Coverage on the following "private passenger" autos number _____/ __________/ __________.

CP at 68. CTE vice president Smith signed this document on May 29, 1998.

Cochran filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that UIM coverage limits of $1 million were available under the policy. Both parties moved for summary judgment.

In support of his motion for summary judgment, Cochran filed the declaration of Smith, vice president of CTE, stating that he had no recollection of Great West offering him UIM coverage equal to liability coverage. Raleigh's broker, David Allison, countered that he provided CTE with the above document, which he described as "a written document explaining the requirements of Washington law concerning UIM insurance coverage."[1] CP at 38.

From the documents and declarations submitted, the trial court concluded that the broker (Raleigh) and CTE evaluated CTE's insurance needs and that CTE, aware that they could purchase $1 million in UIM coverage, requested only $60,000.

The trial court found that CTE's UIM waiver was clear and specific: "It shows the amount that the insured wants; in other words, like the cases say what he has in mind and I think that is all that's required." RP at 28. The court ruled that Great West had "met their statutory obligation under the law under [RCW 48.22.030(4)] ... to provide something in writing regarding the UIM coverage that is desired by the insured." RP at 29.

The trial court then granted Great West's cross motion for summary judgment. Cochran appeals.

We address one issue: Does an insured's express written request for an alternate UIM coverage amount, made in a document that advises the insured of its right to select UIM coverage in an amount equal to the policy's liability limit, satisfy the rejection requirements of RCW 48.22.030(4)?

ANALYSIS

STANDARD OF REVIEW

On review of summary judgment, this court engages in the same inquiry as the trial court. Marincovich v. Tarabochia, 114 Wash.2d 271, 274, 787 P.2d 562 (1990). Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions ... [and] affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." CR 56(c). A material fact is one upon which the outcome of the litigation depends. Clements v. Travelers Indem. Co., 121 Wash.2d 243, 249, 850 P.2d 1298 (1993). The court must consider the facts submitted and all reasonable inferences from those facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Clements, 121 Wash.2d at 249, 850 P.2d 1298.

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Bluebook (online)
67 P.3d 1123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cochran-v-great-west-cas-co-washctapp-2003.