Fosmire v. Progressive Max Insurance

277 F.R.D. 625, 80 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1351, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117366, 2011 WL 4801915
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedOctober 11, 2011
DocketNo. C10-5291 JLR
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 277 F.R.D. 625 (Fosmire v. Progressive Max Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fosmire v. Progressive Max Insurance, 277 F.R.D. 625, 80 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1351, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117366, 2011 WL 4801915 (W.D. Wash. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES L. ROBART, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is a putative class action based on Plaintiff Elaine Fosmire’s allegations that Defendants Progressive Max Insurance Company (“Progressive Max”), Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (“Progressive Casualty”), Progressive Direct Insurance Company (“Progressive Direct”), and Progressive Corporation (collectively, “Progressive”) sold automobile insurance policies in Washington State and throughout the United States that contained coverage for underin-sured and uninsured (“UIM”) property damages. (See Am. Compl. (Dkt. # 105) ¶ 1.2.) Ms. Fosmire alleges that Progressive’s standard form UIM policies uniformly “obligated Progressive to pay to the policyholder ‘damages which an insured is legally entitled to recover’ from the owner or operator of an uninsured/underinsured motor vehicle.” (Id.; see also id. ¶ 9.3; Class Cert. Mot. (Dkt. # 64) at 1.) Ms. Fosmire contends that Washington and the other states in which Progressive issues UIM insurance policies require Progressive to pay its insured not only for the cost to repair their damaged vehicle, but also for the diminution in value that is associated with the repairs. Ms. Fos-mire alleges that diminished value losses result from the irreparable residual damage that remains even though a vehicle has been properly repaired. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 1.3.) Ms. Fosmire further claims that Progressive has breached its contractual obligations to pay diminished value losses to her, as well as to the other putative class members.

There are two motions before the court: (1) Ms. Fosmire’s motion for class certification (Dkt. ##64 (sealed) & 91 (redacted)), and (2) Progressive’s motion to exclude the expert report of Dr. Nayak L. Polissar in support of the class certification (Dkt. # 87). Having reviewed the relevant law and the papers submitted in support and opposition to the motions, and having heard the oral argument of counsel on October 7, 2011, the court GRANTS Progressive’s motion to exclude the expert report, and DENIES Ms. Fosmire’s motion for class certification.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 5, 2007, Ms. Fosmire’s 2007 Mazda was damaged in a collision with an uninsured motorist in King County, Washington. (Am. Compl. ¶ 6.1.) Ms. Fosmire was insured by Progressive Max, and her insurance policy included UIM coverage for physical damages. (Id. ¶6.2.) Progressive paid for repairs to Ms. Fosmire’s vehicle. (Id.) After the repairs were complete, Ms. Fosmire had her vehicle inspected for diminished value loss and made a demand for this loss. (See id. ¶ 6.4.) She was advised, however, that her policy did not cover diminished value loss. (Id. ¶ 6.5.)

In response, Ms. Fosmire brought suit against Progressive in the form of a putative class action for breach of contract, as well as for declaratory and injunctive relief. (Id. ¶¶ 8.1-9.26.) She asserts that Progressive did not fully inspect her vehicle for diminished value loss, did not fully compensated her for diminished value loss, and did not inform her about diminished value loss and her right to recover it. (Id. ¶ 6.6.)

Although Progressive acknowledges the potential for diminished value loss (see Hansen Deck (Dkt. #65) Ex. 2 (“Progressive Claims Standards”) at 56), Ms. Fosmire asserts that Progressive nevertheless avoids paying this loss under its UIM coverage by design (see Class Cert. Mot. at 1). Ms. Fos-mire alleges that when a Progressive insured [628]*628reports a UIM claim for property loss, Progressive does not disclose to the insured that they may make a claim for diminished value, but rather unfairly burdens the insured to learn about, pursue, and prove a claim for diminished loss independently. (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8.6, 8.8.) Progressive does not consider a claim for diminished value until such time as a customer specifically states that he or she would like to make a claim for diminished value and presents some type of proof. (See, e.g., Hansen Deel. Ex. 3 (“Hicks Dep.”) at 61-62 (Progressive does not consider a diminished value claim until the insured says “Hey, I would like to present a [diminished value] claim” and then presents some type of proof); Id. Ex. 16 (“Norris Dep”) at 99-101; Progressive Claims Standards at 57 (“It is the claimant’s duty to establish that damage for diminution of value was sustained.”).) Ms. Fosmire refers to this as Progressive’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy concerning diminished value. (See Class Cert. Mot. at 2-3, 6-10.)

On August 31, 2010, the court dismissed Ms. Fosmire’s claims with respect to Progressive Casualty, Progressive Direct, and Progressive Corporation without prejudice, but also granted Ms. Fosmire leave to move to amend her complaint as appropriate (Dkt. #40 at 5-6, 10), and to conduct discovery into the relationship between Progressive Max and the dismissed Progressive entities (see Min. Ord (Dkt. # 48)). Class discovery also proceeded between Progressive Max and Ms. Fosmire with regard to the seven states1 in which Progressive Max issues policies. (See Resp. to Mot. to Am. (Dkt. # 67) at 2.) On March 3, 2011, Ms. Fos-mire filed a motion to amend her complaint to include additional allegations concerning the inter-relatedness of the four original defendants, and to add again the three defendants that the court had previously dismissed based on the inadequate pleading in Ms. Fosmire’s original complaint. (Dkt. #59.) On September 26, 2011, the court granted Ms. Fosmire’s motion for leave to amend her complaint to re-add the previously dismissed defendants. (Dkt. # 104.) These three defendants issue UIM policies in an additional 17 states. (See Resp. to Mot. to Am. at 2.)

On March 8, 2011, Ms. Fosmire also filed her present motion to certify her class action. (Dkt. #64.) On April 5, 2011, Progressive filed its present motion to exclude Ms. Fos-mire’s expert’s report. (Dkt. # 87.)

III. ANALYSIS

A. Motion to Exclude the Expert Report of Dr. Polissar2

The proper scope of the court’s inquiry into an expert’s testimony at the class certification stage is presently unclear. Citing American Honda Motor Company, Inc. v. Allen, 600 F.3d 813, 815-16 (7th Cir.2010),3 Progressive urges the court to conduct a full Daubert analysis4 of Dr. Polissar’s expert report. (See Mot. to Exclude (Dkt. # 87) at 2-3.) The Ninth Circuit, however, has not yet resolved whether a full analysis under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert is required at the class certification stage. See [629]*629Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 603 F.3d 571, 603 n. 22 (9th Cir.2010) (“We are not convinced ... that Daubert has exactly the same application at the class certification stage as it does to expert testimony relevant at trial. However, ... we need not resolve this issue here.”) (citation omitted), rev’d on other grounds, — U.S.-, 131 S.Ct. 2541, 180 L.Ed.2d 374 (2011).

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court recently suggested that a full Daubert

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277 F.R.D. 625, 80 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1351, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117366, 2011 WL 4801915, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fosmire-v-progressive-max-insurance-wawd-2011.