Halphen v. Borja

961 So. 2d 1201, 2007 WL 1300680
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 4, 2007
Docket2006 CA 1465
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 961 So. 2d 1201 (Halphen v. Borja) 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
Halphen v. Borja, 961 So. 2d 1201, 2007 WL 1300680 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

961 So.2d 1201 (2007)

Corey HALPHEN
v.
Luis O. BORJA, Davis Mechanical Contractors, Inc., Eagle Insurance Company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and the American Central Insurance Company.

No. 2006 CA 1465.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 4, 2007.

*1203 A.J. Paul Fredrickson, II, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff-Appellant Corey Halphen.

Daniel R. Atkinson, Jr., Daniel J. Balhoff, Perry, Atkinson, Balhoff, Mengis & Burns, L.L.C., Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellee American Central Ins. Co.

Before: PARRO, GUIDRY, and McCLENDON, JJ.

PARRO, J.

Corey Halphen appeals the district court's judgment, which granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of his employer's automobile insurer, American Central Insurance Company (American), and dismissed his claims against it on the grounds that American's policy did not provide underinsured/uninsured motorist (UM) coverage for Halphen while driving his personal automobile. We affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 19, 1999, Corey Halphen was injured in an automobile accident while driving his personal vehicle. He was employed by Rabenhorst Funeral Home, Inc. (Rabenhorst), which had a business automobile insurance policy from American. Halphen sued American, along with several *1204 other defendants,[1] alleging that he was in the course and scope of his employment when the accident occurred and that American provided UM coverage for him under the policy issued to Rabenhorst. American filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming there was no UM coverage under its policy for Halphen. The district court agreed and granted American's motion, dismissing Halphen's claims against American in a judgment signed October 25, 2005.[2] Halphen's motion for a new trial was denied in a judgment signed February 9, 2006, and he appealed.

APPLICABLE LAW

Summary Judgment

An appellate court reviews a district court's decision to grant a motion for summary judgment de novo, using the same criteria that govern the district court's consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate. See Smith v. Our Lady of the Lake Hosp., Inc., 93-2512 (La.7/5/94), 639 So.2d 730, 750. Summary judgment shall be rendered if there is no genuine issue as to material fact and the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. LSA-C.C.P. art. 966(B). A summary judgment may be rendered on the issue of insurance coverage alone, although there is a genuine issue as to liability or damages. See LSA-C.C.P. art. 966(E); Bilbo for Basnaw v. Shelter Ins. Co., 96-1476 (La.App. 1st Cir.7/30/97), 698 So.2d 691, 694, writ denied, 97-2198 (La.11/21/97), 703 So.2d 1312. Summary judgment declaring a lack of coverage under an insurance policy may not be rendered unless there is no reasonable interpretation of the policy, when applied to the undisputed material facts shown by the evidence supporting the motion, under which coverage could be afforded. Reynolds v. Select Properties, Ltd., 93-1480 (La.4/11/94), 634 So.2d 1180, 1183. When the issue before the court on the motion for summary judgment is one on which the party bringing the motion will bear the burden of proof at trial, the burden of showing there is no genuine issue of material fact remains with the party bringing the motion. See LSA-C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2); Buck's Run Enterprises, Inc. v. Mapp Const., Inc., 99-3054 (La.App. 1st Cir.2/16/01), 808 So.2d 428, 431. An insurer seeking to avoid coverage through summary judgment must prove some provision or exclusion applies to preclude coverage. Gaylord Chem. Corp. v. ProPump, Inc., 98-2367 (La.App. 1st Cir.2/18/00), 753 So.2d 349, 352.

Insurance Policy Interpretation

An insurance policy is an agreement between the parties and should be interpreted by using ordinary contract principles. Smith v. Matthews, 611 So.2d 1377, 1379 (La.1993). The judicial responsibility in interpreting insurance contracts is to determine the parties' common intent. See LSA-C.C. art. 2045; Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Interstate Fire & Cas. Co., 93-0911 (La.1/14/94), 630 So.2d 759, 763. If the language in an insurance contract is clear and explicit, no further interpretation may be made in search of the parties' *1205 intent. LSA-C.C. art. 2046 The court should not strain to find ambiguity where none exists. Strickland v. State Farm Ins. Companies, 607 So.2d 769, 772 (La. App. 1st Cir.1992). The determination of whether a contract is clear or ambiguous is a question of law. McMath Const. Co., Inc. v. Dupuy, 03-1413 (La.App. 1st Cir.11/17/04), 897 So.2d 677, 681, writ denied, 04-3085 (La.2/18/05), 896 So.2d 40.

However, if there is ambiguity in an insurance policy, it must be resolved by construing the policy as a whole; one policy provision is not to be construed separately at the expense of disregarding other policy provisions. See LSA-C.C. art. 2050; Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 630 So.2d at 763. Ambiguity will also be resolved by ascertaining how a reasonable insurance policy purchaser would construe the clause at the time the insurance contract was entered. Breland v. Schilling, 550 So.2d 609, 610-11 (La.1989). If, after applying the other general rules of construction, an ambiguity remains, the ambiguous contractual provision is to be construed against the insurer who issued the policy and in favor of coverage for the insured. See LSA-C.C. art. 2056; see also Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 630 So.2d at 764. Under this rule of "strict construction," equivocal provisions seeking to narrow an insurer's obligation are strictly construed against the insurer. However, for the rule of strict construction to apply, the policy must be susceptible to two or more interpretations, both of which are reasonable. See Bonin v. Westport Ins. Corp., 05-0886 (La.5/17/06), 930 So.2d 906, 911.

Even if the words are fairly explicit, the court must refrain from construing them in such a manner as to lead to absurd consequences. When a literal interpretation will produce absurd consequences, the court may consider all pertinent facts and circumstances, including the parties' own conclusion of the instrument's meaning, rather than adhere to a forced meaning of the terms used. See LSA-C.C. art. 2046; Ratcliff v. Theriot, 93-973 (La. App. 3rd Cir.3/2/94), 634 So.2d 1234, 1236, writ denied, 94-0685 (La.5/6/94), 637 So.2d 1048; see also Carrier v. Reliance Ins. Co., 99-2573 (La.4/11/00), 759 So.2d 37, 44; McEachern v. Mills, 36,156 (La.App. 2nd Cir.8/16/02), 826 So.2d 1176, 1180-81; Ehrlicher v. State Farm Ins. Co., 171 F.3d 212, 214-15 (5th Cir.1999).

UM Coverage

Under Louisiana's UM statute, LSA-R.S. 22:680,[3] automobile liability insurance delivered or issued for delivery in Louisiana and arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle registered in Louisiana and designed for use on public highways must provide UM motorist coverage for the protection of persons insured thereunder equal to the liability coverage provided for bodily injury, unless UM coverage has been validly rejected or lower UM limits have been selected. See Jones v. Henry, 542 So.2d 507, 508 (La.1989).

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961 So. 2d 1201, 2007 WL 1300680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/halphen-v-borja-lactapp-2007.