Hornback v. Hornback

667 S.W.2d 399, 1984 Ky. App. LEXIS 482
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedApril 6, 1984
StatusPublished

This text of 667 S.W.2d 399 (Hornback v. Hornback) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hornback v. Hornback, 667 S.W.2d 399, 1984 Ky. App. LEXIS 482 (Ky. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

HOWERTON, Judge.

Mary Jo Hornback appeals from an order of the Hardin Circuit Court dismissing her cross-claim against Federal Kemper Insurance Company. This action was initiated by First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. It was the mortgagee on a home owned by Robert and Mary Jo Hornback. The property was insured by Federal Kemper. The home was destroyed by fire on July 24, 1981. Federal Kemper paid First Federal the balance due on the note and mortgage in the amount of $9,082.15 and took an assignment of the mortgagee’s interest. Mary Jo Hornback filed a cross-claim against Federal Kemper seeking $30,000 for the loss of her residence and $15,000 for the loss of its contents. These amounts were the limits of her policy.

Hornback had never filed a proof of loss with the insurance company, and Federal Kemper moved to dismiss her claim. The court concluded that a proof of loss was a required condition precedent to filing a claim against the insurance company in court. The court also concluded that Federal Kemper had not waived the requirement by its actions. The court ordered, “[s]ince Mary Jo Hornback did not comply with the condition of the policy by filing a proof of loss, her Crossclaim against Federal Kemper is premature and is therefore DISMISSED without prejudice.”

We first considered dismissing this appeal, because the order did not appear to be final and appealable. After careful consideration, we concluded that the dismissal of the cross-claim ended all activity in this lawsuit and that it was therefore final. Whether Mary Jo Hornback may refile her case without prejudice and proceed to any satisfactory conclusion remains to be seen. It is quite clear that Federal Kemper will resist any claim on any one of several grounds.

The evidence indicates that Mary Jo Hornback and her husband, Robert, had a domestic dispute after which Robert allegedly set fire to the house on or about July 24, 1981. Mary Jo immediately notified the insurance agent, and the fire was investigated by an adjuster for Federal Kemper on July 27. The adjuster took a lengthy statement from Mary Jo concerning the circumstances surrounding the fire. The information provided no estimate of the total loss of either the real or personal property. The investigation also revealed that much of the personal property was destroyed by breakage and cutting prior to the fire.

On October 19, 1981, a “proof of loss” form and inventory sheets were mailed to Mary Jo. The forms were never returned to the company, but the proof of loss was signed and submitted to the court on March 11, 1983, as an exhibit with a memorandum of law prepared by Mary Jo’s counsel. The inventory sheets were not filed with the form.

Mary Jo Hornback now argues that the trial court erred in dismissing her cross-claim because the insurance company waived any defense it may have had against her failure to file a proof of loss. She argues that the company waived its defenses by (1) investigating the fire, (2) denying liability, and (3) accepting an assignment of the mortgage from First Federal Savings & Loan Association.

[401]*401We find no merit in the arguments that the company waived its defenses by denying liability and by accepting an assignment of the mortgage which it paid. The only time the company denied liability was in its answer to the complaint of First Federal Savings & Loan Association. This it had to do. It denied liability for failure to file a proof of loss and because of the alleged arson. Mary Jo cites Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. Moore, Ky., 412 S.W.2d 860 (1967) as authority for the proposition that payment by an insurance company to a mortgage holder under a loss payable clause constitutes a waiver of the requirement for filing a proof of loss. The Moore case is distinguishable from this situation on its facts, the policy provisions, and the legal proceedings. Furthermore, the case was decided prior to the adoption of KRS 804.14-280(4) which specifically provides that making a partial payment shall not of itself constitute a waiver of any provision of the policy or defense of the insurer.

The three issues were addressed by the trial court, and Judge Coyle wrote an excellent opinion disposing of each of them. We hereafter quote from his opinion entered May 18, 1983, as it addresses the issue of whether the actions by Kemper in investigating the fire constituted a waiver of the requirement of a proof of loss.

The remaining issue of whether or not the investigation of the fire by an agent for Federal-Kemper constitutes a waiver of the proof of loss is a more troublesome issue. Kentucky case law and Kentucky statutory law appear to be in direct conflict.
Mary Jo has cited two eases which hold that an investigation by an insurance company or its adjuster constitutes a waiver of the necessity to file a proof of loss. In the case of United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company v. Fyffe, Ky., 471 S.W.2d 23 (1971), the court said:
“Without detailing the evidence in the present case, it is clear to us that appellant, through its agent, had full knowledge of the loss from the day after it occurred and the facts and circumstances, as a matter of law, establish a waiver of written proof of loss.”
In a later case of Aetna Insurance Company v. Solomon, Ky., 511 S.W.2d 205 (1974), the Court of Appeals said as follows:
“... without detailing all the evidence concerning the investigation, it is clear to us that Aetna, through its agent Tignor, had full knowledge of the loss from the day after it occurred and the facts and circumstances, as a matter of law, establish a waiver of proof of loss. (Western Automobile Casualty Company v. Lee, 246 Ky. 364, 55 S.W.2d 1 (1932)).”
On the other hand, Federal Kemper cites to the Court KRS 304.14-280 which provides as follows:
“Claims administration not waiver. —Without limitation of any right or defense of an insurer otherwise, none of the following acts by or on behalf of an insurer shall be deemed to constitute a waiver of any provision of a policy or of any defense of the insurer thereunder:
(3) Investigating any loss or claim under any policy or engaging in negotiations looking toward a possible settlement of any such loss or claim.
This statute was enacted in 1970 by the Kentucky Legislature and was in effect not only when both of the above cases were decided, but was in effect when the fire loss occurred in the Solomon case. It is also interesting to note that the Court of Appeals did not mention the statute in either opinion.

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667 S.W.2d 399, 1984 Ky. App. LEXIS 482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hornback-v-hornback-kyctapp-1984.