Crocker v. American National General Insurance Co.

211 S.W.3d 928, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 58, 2007 WL 29708
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 5, 2007
Docket05-05-00943-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 211 S.W.3d 928 (Crocker v. American National General Insurance Co.) 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
Crocker v. American National General Insurance Co., 211 S.W.3d 928, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 58, 2007 WL 29708 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice WHITTINGTON.

Julie and Johnny Crocker appeal the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of American National General Insurance Company (ANGIC), American National Property & Casualty Insurance Company (ANPAC), Gary Armstrong, and Armstrong & Armstrong Adjusters Association, Inc. (together referred to as Armstrong). Because the surface water exclusion in the Crockers’ homeowners insurance policy barred their claims for damage to their home, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

In 1994, the Crockers contracted to have an aggregate rock surface installed on top of their existing patio. Several years later, the Crockers discovered that water collecting on the patio was running off into their home, causing water damage and mold. The Crockers submitted a claim under their homeowners insurance policy. The parties dispute whether the policy was issued by ANGIC or ANPAC. Armstrong, who was retained by one of the insurance companies to investigate the claim, inspected the Crockers’ home. The Crock-ers’ claim was denied in a letter dated March 19, 2001, which cited the exclusions in the policy for “wear and tear, deterioration or loss caused by any quality in property that causes it to damage or destroy itself’ (the inherent vice exclusion); loss caused by “rust, rot, mold, or other fungi;” *930 and “loss caused by or resulting from flood, surface water, waves, tidal water, or tidal waves, overflow of streams or other bodies of water or spray from any of these whether or not driven by wind” (the surface water exclusion).

The Crockers brought this action, and appellees filed motions for summary judgment. The trial judge granted the motions “on the sole ground that the insurance claim made the basis of Plaintiffs’ causes of action against these defendants was properly denied pursuant to the surface water exclusion contained in the insurance policy at issue.” The parties agree only ANGIC included the surface water exclusion as a ground for summary judgment in its motion. ANPAC and Armstrong contend the trial court’s judgment in their favor may be affirmed nonetheless because summary judgment was proper on grounds that were presented in their motions.

Standard of Review

We review a summary judgment de novo to determine whether a party has established its right to summary judgment as a matter of law. Dallas Cent. Appraisal Dist. v. Cunningham, 161 S.W.3d 293, 295 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2005, no pet.). A party moving for a traditional summary judgment must show no material fact issue exists and it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); M.D. Anderson Hosp. & Tumor Inst. v. Willrich, 28 S.W.3d 22, 23 (Tex.2000) (per curiam). When reviewing a summary judgment, we must examine the entire record in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, indulging every reasonable inference and resolving any doubts against the motion. City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 824-25 (Tex.2005).

We review a no-evidence summary judgment under the same legal sufficiency standard used to review a directed verdict to determine whether the nonmovant produced more than a scintilla of probative evidence to raise a fact issue on the material questions presented. Gen. Mills Rests., Inc. v. Tex. Wings, Inc., 12 S.W.3d 827, 832-33 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2000, no pet). A no-evidence motion for summary judgment places the burden on the nonmovant to present summary judgment evidence raising a genuine fact issue. See Espalin v. Children’s Med. Ctr. of Dallas, 27 S.W.3d 675, 683 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2000, no pet.).

The trial judge granted summary judgment for ANPAC and Armstrong on a ground not asserted in their motions. The supreme court has held we “should consider all summary judgment grounds the trial court rules on and the movant preserves for appellate review that are necessary for final disposition of the appeal when reviewing a summary judgment.” Cincinnati Life Ins. Co. v. Cates, 927 S.W.2d 623, 626 (Tex.1996) (citing former appellate rule 90(a)). The court in Cates also held “the appellate court may, in the interest of judicial economy, consider other grounds that the movant preserved for review and that the trial court did not rule on.” Cates, 927 S.W.2d at 624.

ANGIC’s Motion

ANGIC moved for summary judgment on four grounds. It asserted the exclusions for surface water damage, mold, and inherent vice precluded coverage; it fulfilled its duty of good faith and fair dealing to appellants; and there was no evidence to support appellants’ common law and statutory bad faith claims.

The Crockers’ homeowners policy provided, “We insure against all risks of physical loss to the property ... unless the loss is excluded in Section I Exclusions.” Section Li provides, ‘We do not *931 cover loss caused by or resulting from flood, surface water, waves, tidal water or tidal waves, overflow of streams or other bodies of water or spray from any of these whether or not driven by wind.” The term “surface water” is not defined in the policy. ANGIC bore the burden of proving the applicability of the exclusion. See Tex. Ins. Code Ann. art. 554.002 (Vernon 2006) (in suit to recover under insurance contract, insurer has burden of proof on any avoidance or affirmative defense such as language of exclusion in contract); Venture Encoding Serv., Inc. v. Atl. Mut. Ins. Co., 107 S.W.3d 729, 733 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2003, pet. denied) (in general, insured bears initial burden of showing coverage and insurer bears burden of proving applicability of exclusion; burden then shifts back to insured to prove exception to exclusion).

As recently noted by the Texas Supreme Court, the rules for construing an insurance policy provision are well-settled:

If a policy provision has only one reasonable interpretation, it is unambiguous and we must construe it as a matter of law. If an exclusion has more than one reasonable interpretation, we must construe it in favor of the insured as long as that construction is not unreasonable. A policy provision is not ambiguous merely because different parties or different courts have interpreted it differently. As with any other contract, the parties’ intent is governed by what they said, not by what they intended to say but did not.

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Bluebook (online)
211 S.W.3d 928, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 58, 2007 WL 29708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crocker-v-american-national-general-insurance-co-texapp-2007.