Huff v. Travelers Indemnity Company

328 N.E.2d 430, 1975 Ind. App. LEXIS 1472
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided May 27, 1975·No. 3-1173A149·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

328 N.E.2d 430 (1975)

Margaret HUFF, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 3-1173A149.

Court of Appeals of Indiana, Third District.

May 27, 1975.

*432 Harry V. Huffman, Linton, Bobby J. Small, Indianapolis, for plaintiff-appellant.

Timothy W. Woods, South Bend, for defendant-appellee.

STATON, Presiding Judge.

The water pipes froze and burst in Margaret L. Huff's vacant house, which she had placed on the market for sale. The floors and heating system of the house were damaged, and she brought an action for damages based upon her homeowner's insurance policy with Travelers Indemnity Company. A jury returned a verdict in her favor for Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00). Travelers filed its motion to correct errors which included a motion for judgment on the evidence pursuant to Indiana Rules of Procedure, Trial Rule 50(A)(4). The trial court granted Travelers' motion and entered judgment for Travelers. Huff's appeal raises these questions on appeal:

Issue One: Did the trial court err in entering judgment on the evidence?
Issue Two: Did the trial court err in granting Travelers' motion to amend its answer?

We conclude that the trial court did not err when it entered judgment on the evidence in favor of Travelers and that the trial court did not err when it granted Travelers' motion to amend its answer. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

I.

Standards of Review

Pursuant to TR. 50(A)(4), Travelers made a motion for judgment on the evidence in its motion to correct errors which was granted by the trial court. When a motion for judgment on the evidence is made after the jury's verdict as part of a motion to correct errors, the trial court's ruling regarding the propriety of the motion is governed by Indiana Rules of Procedure, Trial Rule 59. When sufficiency of the evidence supporting a jury's verdict is challenged in a motion to correct errors pursuant to TR. 50(A)(4), TR. 59(E)(7) provides:

"(7) In reviewing the evidence, the court ... shall enter judgment, subject *433 to the provisions herein, if the court determines that the verdict of a nonadvisory jury is clearly erroneous as contrary to or not supported by the evidence... . In its order correcting error the court shall direct final judgment to be entered or shall correct the error without a new trial unless such relief is shown to be impracticable or unfair to any of the parties or is otherwise improper; ... If corrective relief is granted, the court shall specify the general reasons therefor... ."

When a TR. 50 motion is made after the jury's verdict, the standard of review applied by the trial court is different from the standard of review applied before the jury's verdict. Before the jury's verdict, the trial court must view the evidence together with all the fair, rational inferences therefrom which are in favor of the non-moving party. Smith v. Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Co. (1974), Ind. App., 311 N.E.2d 462; Memorial Hospital of South Bend v. Scott (1972), Ind. App., 290 N.E.2d 80 (transfer granted on other grounds at 300 N.E.2d 50). The trial court should not grant the motion for judgment on the evidence unless there is a total absence of evidence or reasonable inference therefrom on at least one essential element of the non-moving party's case. Miller v. Griesel (1974), Ind., 308 N.E.2d 701; Mamula v. Ford Motor Company (1971), Ind. App., 275 N.E.2d 849. But see, Galbreath v. City of Logansport (1972), Ind. App., 279 N.E.2d 578.

The TR. 59 "clearly erroneous as contrary to or not supported by the evidence" standard of review goes a step beyond the TR. 50 "clearly erroneous as contrary to the evidence because the evidence is insufficient to support it" standard of review. Of course, if the trial court determines that there is a total absence of evidence supporting a necessary element of plaintiff's case when sufficiency of the evidence is raised after the jury's verdict, it should enter judgment for the defendant. The verdict would be clearly contrary to the evidence. On the other hand, when there is some evidence to support the jury's verdict, the trial court must determine if the jury's verdict is supported by sufficient evidence without weighing the evidence or judging the credibility of the witnesses. This is the same standard used by the Court of Appeals when sufficiency of the evidence is raised on appeal. This standard is a review of the evidence most favorable to the non-moving party together with any reasonable inferences which can be drawn therefrom to determine whether the jury's verdict is sustained by substantial evidence of probative value on each essential element of the claim.

Once the trial court determines that the jury's verdict is "clearly erroneous as contrary to or not supported by the evidence", it must enter judgment on the evidence unless "such relief is shown to be impracticable or unfair to any of the parties or is otherwise improper." In the alternative, if the trial court determines that there is substantial evidence of probative value to support each essential element of the claim, a further consideration is required.[1] The trial court must consider whether the jury's verdict is against the weight of the evidence, which requires a weighing of the evidence by the trial court setting out the supporting and opposing evidence. Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc. v. Scott (1973), Ind., 300 N.E.2d 50. If the verdict is against the weight of the *434 evidence, the trial court must grant a new trial.

Several reasons were given by the trial court when it granted Traveler's motion for judgment on the evidence.[2] This opinion is limited to the following reason:[3]

"B. The evidence established without contradiction that the suit on the insurance contract was not instituted within twelve (12) months after the loss as provided by the contract of insurance, and there was no evidence introduced at the trial tending to show that the defendant waived this provision."

The question before us on appeal is whether there was a lack of substantial evidence of probative value on the waiver of the twelve month provision by Travelers.

II.

One Year Limitation

Viewing the evidence most favorable to Huff, we conclude that the trial court correctly entered judgment in favor of Travelers because "[t]he evidence established without contradiction that the suit on the insurance contract was not instituted within twelve (12) months after the loss as provided by the contract of insurance, and there was no evidence introduced at the trial tending to show that the defendant waived this provision."[4]

The insurance policy relied upon by Huff contains the following provision:

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Huff v. Travelers Indemnity Company, 328 N.E.2d 430, 1975 Ind. App. LEXIS 1472 (Ind. Ct. App. 1975).

328 N.E.2d 430 (Huff v. Travelers Indemnity Company) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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