In re Allstate Vehicle & Prop. Ins. Co.

549 S.W.3d 881
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 3, 2018·No. NO. 02-17-00319-CV·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinions

SUE WALKER, JUSTICE

I. INTRODUCTION

Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion by finding that Relator Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company waived its right to invoke its policy's appraisal provision, and because the policy does not contain a nonwaiver clause, we will deny Allstate's petition for writ of mandamus.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Real Party in Interest Deniedra Jackson made two claims under her homeowner's policy with her insurance company, Allstate, for roof damage sustained on April 1, 2015, and on March 17, 2016. Allstate refused to pay monies on either claim, stating in writing that "[n]o payment was made ... because the covered damage observed by Allstate ... did not exceed the policy's $4,077.68 deductible." Jackson filed suit pursuant to the expedited action provisions of Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 169.1 See Tex. R. Civ. P. 169. In accordance with that rule, Jackson affirmatively pleaded that she was seeking recovery of only monetary relief aggregating $100,000 or less. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 169(a)(1).

Prior to invoking the appraisal provision set forth in Jackson's policy, Allstate had conducted at least six inspections of Jackson's roof;2 had removed the case to federal *884court-the federal court remanded it to state court three months later;3 had taken Jackson's deposition; had conducted discovery; had agreed to a February 2018 trial setting;4 had sought and had obtained an order from the trial court compelling a seventh inspection of Jackson's roof by a new Allstate expert-specifically representing to the trial court that a seventh inspection was needed for Allstate to prepare for the upcoming jury trial;5 and had obtained an extension of time to the expert designation deadline in order to designate the new expert conducting the seventh inspection-Jackson's counsel stated that she had no objection to an extension of Allstate's designation deadline for the new expert "[a]s long as it doesn't postpone the trial setting."

Jackson objected to Allstate's motion to compel a seventh inspection, pointing out that Allstate had already performed six inspections-four by adjusters and two by experts-that it had "over a thousand photographs," that it had "hundreds of measurements," and that "it will be the seventh inspection." She explained that as far as the interior, "[w]e're talking about two spots [on the ceilings], one in the master bedroom and one in the living room."6

*885Jackson's counsel argued at various points in the hearing that Allstate's request for a seventh inspection had "reached a point of harassment."7

The trial court nonetheless signed a July 26, 2017 order granting Allstate's motion to compel another inspection of Jackson's roof by another Allstate expert and granting Allstate's counsel's request for an extension of Allstate's deadlines to designate this new expert. On August 10, 2017, Allstate's new expert Gary Boyd conducted a seventh inspection for Allstate of Jackson's roof and home.

Four days later, on August 14, 2017, Allstate made a settlement offer. Allstate offered $24,000 to Jackson to settle all her claims against Allstate. Allstate's settlement offer provided,

Allstate offers to pay $24,000 (TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND AND NO/DOLLARS) in new money in exchange for a complete release of all claims against Defendant Allstate and a dismissal with prejudice of the above referenced suit.
The offer contained in this letter is made for the sole purpose of amicable resolution and avoiding further expense associated with Plaintiff's lawsuit. The offer is not intended to be and should not be considered by you or your client to be an admission of liability.

Jackson rejected Allstate's $24,000 settlement offer on August 16, 2017.

The next day, on August 17, 2017, Allstate made a written demand for appraisal under the terms of its policy with Jackson. When Jackson refused to participate in the appraisal process, Allstate filed with the trial court motions to compel an appraisal and to abate the case. Jackson filed a response in opposition to Allstate's motion to compel appraisal and abate.

The trial court conducted a September 8, 2017 hearing on Allstate's motion to compel an appraisal and motion to abate. Allstate argued that a point of impasse had been reached on August 16, 2017, when Jackson rejected Allstate's $24,000 settlement offer and that, consequently, Allstate's demand the next day, on August 17, 2017, for an appraisal was timely. Jackson argued that Allstate had waived its right of appraisal by conduct inconsistent with that right-including that Allstate had compelled a seventh inspection, that the point of impasse concerning the amount of loss *886had occurred over two years earlier, and that she would suffer prejudice from Allstate's attempt to invoke the appraisal clause.8

At the hearing on Allstate's motion to compel an appraisal, the trial court asked Allstate,

So why did we have the whole fight on y'all wanting to go out and inspect it again rather than saying we've reached an impasse and we want to invoke the appraisal?
[ALLSTATE'S COUNSEL]: We hadn't reached the impasse yet. We were continuing to negotiate the settlement negotiations.
THE COURT: No. You were preparing for trial and complaining that there was no way you could go to trial with the expert that you had and you had to have another expert come out because one fellow was only causation. So you weren't talking settlement. You were doing tactical maneuvering in the lawsuit.

At the conclusion of the hearing on Allstate's motion to compel an appraisal and to abate the lawsuit pending an appraisal, the learned trial court judge stated his ruling on the record:

All right. Well, you can't look at it in a vacuum. And I don't think the time in and of itself-and, in fact, I really think it's almost silly the way they claim when an impasse is met because as somebody who's practiced law 30 years, I know that Friday before Monday trials cases that have been at an impasse for years suddenly get resolved because people know that there's a jury waiting on Monday. In fact, we have them settle Monday morning. So I don't know that there's ever an actual impasse.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

In re Allstate Vehicle & Prop. Ins. Co., 549 S.W.3d 881 (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

549 S.W.3d 881 (In re Allstate Vehicle & Prop. Ins. Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related