Collins v. State Farm Insurance Co.

160 So. 3d 987, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 0419, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 167, 2015 WL 468970
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 4, 2015
DocketNo. 2014-CA-0419
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 160 So. 3d 987 (Collins v. State Farm Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Collins v. State Farm Insurance Co., 160 So. 3d 987, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 0419, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 167, 2015 WL 468970 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

ROSEMARY LEDET, Judge.

_J_jThis is an insurance agent negligence case coupled with an insurance coverage dispute. The insured, Edward Collins, brought this suit against his insurer, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (“State Farm”),1 and his insurance agent, Reggie Glass. From the trial court’s judgment granting Mr. Glass’ motion for summary judgment. Mr. Collins appeals. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In January 2000, Mr. Collins filed a claim under his homeowner’s policy with State Farm for roof damage to his property located at 7508 Lafourche Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. State Farm adjusted the claim and paid the damages due under the policy. In September 2004, Mr. Col[989]*989lins submitted another claim under his homeowner’s policy. During its investigation of this claim, State Farm discovered that Mr. Collins failed to repair his roof after he was paid for his 2000 claim. State Farm thus decided not to renew Mr. Collins’ homeowner’s policy when it expired on May 30, 2005. On April 27, 2005, State Farm sent a notice of nonrenewal to Mr. Collins and his mortgagees. Mr. Collins alleged that he never received a notice of nonrenewal. On or about August 29, 2005, Mr. Collins filed a | ¡.claim under his homeowner’s policy against State Farm for damages his property sustained as a result of Hurricane Katrina.2 State Farm denied the claim, asserting that there was no longer an effective homeowner’s policy for Mr. Collins’ property as a result of its nonrenewal in May 2005.

On August 28, 2006, Mr. Collins commenced this suit against State Farm and Mr. Glass.3 In his petition, Mr. Collins alleged that State Farm violated its duties as an insurer by failing to adjust his claim and by denying coverage in bad faith. He alleged that the week before Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Glass, his insurance agent, informed him that he was fully covered with his flood and homeowner’s insurance policy.4 However, he alleged that after Hurricane Katrina he was informed that his homeowner’s insurance had been dropped without prior written notice. He further alleged that Mr. Glass failed to disclose material information to him causing delay and damage.

During Mr. Collins’ deposition, however, he retracted the allegation contained in his petition that Mr. Glass had informed him he was covered the week before Hurricane Katrina. Instead, he testified that Mr. Glass’ office manager, Linda Jackson, was the one who had misinformed him that he had coverage under his homeowner’s policy. He testified in his deposition as follows:

|iiQ: When was the first time you remember talking with [Mr. Glass] or seeing him face to face?
A: After the hurricane.
Q: You didn’t have any dealings with Mr. Glass personally before Hurricane Katrina?
A: No I didn’t need to.
Q: Had you had any conversations or discussion or any other kind of contact with people who worked in Reggie Glass’ insurance office before the storm?
A: Yes, I have.
Q: Who did you talk with before the storm? Who was at Reggie’s office?
A: Linda Jackson.
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Q: So, in July, you believe you spoke with Linda Jackson about the coverage on your home?
[990]*990A: Yes, I don’t believe, I know I did.
Q: All right.
A: I am positive, I did.
Q: And when you spoke with her, was Hurricane Katrina already in the Gulf of Mexico?
A: It was out there in the water. Now, what part of the water, I don’t know but, it was showing up on the radar.
Q: And so, did you discuss your coverages with Ms. Jackson?
A: Ms. Linda Jackson.
Q: And what did she tell you, you had in coverage?
A: She said I had everything that a house is supposed to have. I had the flood insurance. I had the homeowner’s insurance, and I had the personal property, and the injury, and whatever else. She said I had everything that a home should have. That is all I could get on the house.
|4Q: All right. Now, was that the only conversation you had with Ms. Jackson about the insurance coverage on your home before Katrina struck?
A: I had a conversation two weeks before.
Q: Two weeks before?
A: Right. In August.
Q: And what was that discussion about?
A. I wanted to make sure, because when the Mayor said the water is gonna be anywhere from 25-30 feet, I just wanted to make sure that we had everything before we leave our home, and was everything covered. And that is two weeks before the hurricane. And what she did she turned the computer around facing me, showing me, that I had the homeowner’s insurance. And she said, and I quote her word, “Mr. Collins, State Farm is a good company, they won’t screw you around. That ain’t like other companies and they are nationwide.

In Ms. Jackson’s deposition, she testified that she did not recall speaking with Mr. Collins. Further, she testified that the computer system that they used at the time, ECHO, would not display an insurance policy that had been cancelled or non-renewed for more than thirty days. Thus, she contended that Mr. Collins’ story that she turned the computer around and showed him his policy was impossible.

On September 7, 2007, State Farm filed its first motion for summaiy judgment. It contended that it mailed a notice of nonre-newal of the homeowner’s policy to Mr. Collins in compliance with Louisiana law; thus, it contended that it should be dismissed from the lawsuit. On May 6, 2008, the "trial court granted State Farm’s motion for summary judgment. On appeal, this court reversed that judgment and remanded to the trial court. Collins v. State Farm Ins. Co., 08-0790 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/14/08), 997 So.2d 51. We reasoned that the sworn affidavits from Mr. Collins and one of the mortgagees, Sun Finance Company, Inc., declaring that they did not receive the notice of State Farm’s intention not to renew |sthe policy created a genuine issue of material fact as to whether State Farm’s notice of nonrenewal was effective. Id., 08-0790 at pp. 14-15, 997 So.2d at 59.

On remand, State Farm re-urged its motion for summary judgment. In support, it offered additional evidence of mailing the notice of nonrenewal. The trial court again granted State Farm’s motion for summary judgment. On appeal, this court affirmed; we reasoned as follows:

The statutes that are controlling with respect to the nonrenewal of homeowner’s insurance policies in Louisiana are, La. R.S. 22:636, La. R.S. 22:636.1 [991]*991and La. R.S. 22:636.6 [footnote omitted]. La. R.S. 22:636 applies generally to property and casualty insurance policies and provides in pertinent part:
G.

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Bluebook (online)
160 So. 3d 987, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 0419, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 167, 2015 WL 468970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collins-v-state-farm-insurance-co-lactapp-2015.