Greenough v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. of Idaho

130 P.3d 1127, 142 Idaho 589, 2006 Ida. LEXIS 29
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 27, 2006
Docket31234
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 130 P.3d 1127 (Greenough v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. of Idaho) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greenough v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. of Idaho, 130 P.3d 1127, 142 Idaho 589, 2006 Ida. LEXIS 29 (Idaho 2006).

Opinions

JONES, Justice.

Wyatt Greenough, Jr. brought this action seeking prejudgment interest under an underinsured motorist policy. The district court ruled in favor of Greenough Jr., awarding interest from the date of an automobile accident. We vacate and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

On June 30, 2002 Wyatt Greenough, Sr. (Mr. Greenough) was thrown from a vehicle and killed when the vehicle he occupied was involved in a single-car rollover accident. At the time, he had insurance through Farm Bureau which included coverage of up to $75,000 for losses sustained from an uninsured or underinsured motorist. This coverage applied so long as Mr. Greenough was not the driver.

After the accident, Lance Hotchkiss, the owner of the vehicle, told the police that he had picked up a hitchhiker and the hitchhiker was driving because he and Mr. Greenough were inebriated. Hotchkiss also informed the officer that the hitchhiker fled the scene immediately after the crash. The officer found no footprints to corroborate Hotchkiss’ story. Instead, the officer noticed that the soles of Mr. Greenough’s boots had impressions that may have matched the brake and clutch pads of the vehicle. In his report, the officer wrote that he believed Mr. Greenough may have been the driver. The Idaho State Lab conducted forensic testing of the soles of Mr. Greenough’s boots and the brake and clutch pads. The criminologist determined that the impressions on the soles matched the pads and that Mr. Greenough may have been the driver.

On June 6, 2003 Greenough Jr. sent Farm Bureau a letter demanding $50,000 ($75,000 minus the $25,000 recoverable under Hotchkiss’ insurance policy) of the underinsured coverage. The letter stated that on the night of the accident Hotchkiss told a witness and Greenough Jr.’s mother that he (Hotchkiss) was driving the vehicle. Further, the letter explained that Dave Beaufort, an accident reconstructionist, conducted an investigation and would testify that the officer was mistaken in his belief that Mr. Greenough was driving. Included with this letter were copies of the officer’s accident report, doctors’ bills, and an offer from Hotchkiss’ insurance company to pay its $25,000 policy limit to Greenough Jr.

Farm Bureau responded to this letter by requesting that Greenough Jr. complete a proof-of-loss form and provide any documentation to support his underinsured motorist claim. Greenough Jr. then sent Farm Bureau a letter, which was identical to the June 6 letter, along with a copy of the documents already submitted. On September 10, 2003, Greenough Jr. sent Farm Bureau affidavits from Carrie Robertson, Greenough Jr.’s mother, and Rod Rodriguez, a witness to the accident, as well as a report from Mr. Beaufort. According to the affidavits, Hotchkiss admitted to Mr. Rodriguez immediately after the accident that he was driving the vehicle when it crashed and he admitted the same to Ms. Robertson later that evening at the hospital. Mr. Beaufort’s report explained that the officer and criminologist were incorrect in their conclusions because, based upon their placement in Hotchkiss’ vehicle, the brake and clutch pads could not have made the impressions that were found on the soles of Mr. Greenough’s boots.

On September 22, 2003, Farm Bureau sent a letter confirming it had received and reviewed all of the documents Greenough Jr. had provided; however, its policy required Greenough Jr. to complete the proof-of-loss form before it could make a decision regarding the claim. On November 17, 2003, Greenough Jr. mailed a completed proof-of-loss form with additional copies of the previously provided documents.

At Farm Bureau’s request, arbitration was scheduled for January 27, 2004 on the limited issue of whether Mr. Greenough was the driver. On December 29, 2003, Greenough Jr. filed a complaint against Farm Bureau [592]*592alleging breach of contract and requesting payment of the underinsured motorist coverage, attorney fees, and prejudgment interest. At Greenough Jr.’s request, arbitration was rescheduled in order to enable the parties to depose several expert witnesses.

On February 2, 2004, the criminologist was deposed. As found by the district court, “during her deposition, it was discovered that she had made a mistake in her analysis of the boots and the pedals, and that her conclusions were no longer credible”. Consequently, Farm Bureau sent a letter acknowledging that the criminologist’s analysis was flawed. It then tendered a check, dated February 19, 2004, for the full amount remaining owing under the policy, $50,000. In the next two months Greenough Jr. requested attorney fees, costs, and interest. The parties failed in their attempts to resolve these issues. Therefore, in May of 2004 Farm Bureau filed an answer to Greenough Jr.’s complaint. Greenough Jr. then filed a motion for summary judgment to resolve these matters. On summary judgment, the district court found that Greenough Jr. was entitled to attorney fees and costs, as well as prejudgment interest from the date of the accident until the date Farm Bureau tendered payment. Farm Bureau appealed the award of prejudgment interest.

II.

Summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the 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.” I.R.C.P. 56(c). “Where the evidentiary facts are undisputed and the trial court will be the trier of fact, summary judgment is appropriate, despite the possibility of conflicting inferences because the court alone will be responsible for resolving the conflict between those inferences.” Pinehaven Plan. Bd. v. Brooks, 138 Idaho 826, 828, 70 P.3d 664, 666 (2003) (citations omitted).

III.

Idaho Code Section 28-22-104 allows for prejudgment interest at the rate of twelve percent per annum in cases where money is due on an express contract. “Prejudgment interest can be awarded as a matter of law from the date the sum became due in cases where the amount claimed, even though not liquidated, is capable of mathematical computation.” Dillon v. Montgomery, 138 Idaho 614, 617, 67 P.3d 93, 96 (2003). Here, there was an express contract—the contract for first party insurance coverage— which provided “[p]ayment for loss will be made within 60 days after we receive your signed, sworn proof of loss ...” Application of the statute to the contract provision would result in the inescapable conclusion that payment under the contract was due 60 days after the proof of loss was furnished and that interest would begin to accrue on the amount owing under the policy on that date.

However, the district court, understandably relying upon contrary precedent, ruled that prejudgment interest should begin to accrue from the date of the accident. In Brinkman v. Aid Ins. Co., 115 Idaho 346, 766 P.2d 1227 (1988), we established a bright-line prejudgment interest rule for underinsured or uninsured motorist claims in first party automobile insurance cases. This rule stated that “[p]rejudgment interest accrues on the general damages from the date of the accident, because that is the date [the insurer’s] contractual duties accrued.” Brinkman, 115 Idaho at 354, 766 P.2d at 1235. We followed the Brinkman

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 P.3d 1127, 142 Idaho 589, 2006 Ida. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greenough-v-farm-bureau-mut-ins-co-of-idaho-idaho-2006.