Indiana Department of Insurance v. Zenith Re-Insurance Co.

583 N.E.2d 201, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 2201, 1992 WL 50
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 31, 1991
DocketNo. 49A02-9102-CV-84
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 583 N.E.2d 201 (Indiana Department of Insurance v. Zenith Re-Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Indiana Department of Insurance v. Zenith Re-Insurance Co., 583 N.E.2d 201, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 2201, 1992 WL 50 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

RUCKER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment. The Indiana Department of Insurance (Department) filed a complaint for preliminary injunction against the Zenith Re-Insurance Company Ltd. (Zenith) seeking to enjoin it from transacting insurance business in the State of Indiana. In response, Zenith filed, among other things, a motion for summary judgment. After conducting a hearing, the trial court granted the motion. On review we are called upon to determine whether Zenith was transacting insurance business in this state within the meaning of the Unauthorized Insurers Act.

We reverse.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

For purpose of clarity, we briefly set forth the historical background of this case, which is not in dispute. In 1980, Congress eliminated the regulatory barriers affecting the trucking industry by amending the Motor Carrier Act.2 As a result, a relatively new entity emerged from within the trucking industry known as the "owner/operator." - Owner/operators are truck drivers who own their own trucks and lease their services to various [203]*203trucking companies. Typically, a trucking company supplies the truck driver with a trailer and freight. The driver in turn delivers the freight and receives a percentage of the freight bill as part of his or her compensation.

Some trucking companies would include the owner/operators under their worker's compensation insurance policies. However, the Internal Revenue Service determined that because the trucking companies paid worker's compensation insurance premiums for the owner/operators, then, for federal tax purposes, owner/operators were considered employees of the trucking companies rather than independent contractors. Consequently, the trucking companies were responsible for withholding various federal employee taxes.

Because of the costs involved in being considered employers for federal tax purposes, trucking companies discontinued including owner/operators under their worker's compensation insurance policies. However, to preclude being held liable for injuries to the owner/operators, many trucking companies required the owner/operators to show proof of worker's compensation coverage as a condition of employment.

FACTS

In 1982, Affiliated Truckers of America, Inc. (ATA) was incorporated in the State of Indiana. Paul M. Myrehn, a businessman with nearly forty-one years experience in the insurance industry is president, director and sole shareholder of ATA. ATA claims a nationwide membership of approximately fifteen hundred people, all of whom are owner/operator truck drivers. membership provides various benefits, including group insurance for accidental death and occupational accidents. These policies were obtained through Lloyd's of London and are not the subject of this appeal. In order to avail themselves of the various benefits provided through ATA, members pay an annual membership fee. An ATA

In 1989, Myrehn formed the Zenith ReInsurance Company Ltd. Zenith is located in and incorporated under the laws of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies. The company is not licensed to do business in the State of Indiana. Myrehn is president and sole shareholder. Zenith was formed to provide owner/operators with proof of worker's compensation coverage. In essence, Zenith provides ATA members with insurance coverage which indemnifies the trucking companies, with whom the ATA members contract, against a potential worker's compensation claim. According to Myrehn, no such coverage was available in the United States on the commercial market.

As evidence of insurance coverage, Zenith issues to owner/operators Certificates of Indemnification. The certificate names the trucking company as an additional insured and indicates Zenith agrees to indemnify the trucking company for worker's compensation awards required to be paid to ATA members. The Zenith policy is attractive to an owner/operator because trucking companies will accept the certificate as proof the owner/operator is covered by worker's compensation insurance.

Zenith has two employees: Myrehn and an attorney, Finbar F. Dempsey, whose office is located in the Grand Turks and Caicos Islands. On May 18, 1989, Myrehn, acting as president of ATA and while present in Indiana, endorsed a document entitled "APPLICATION FOR GROUP OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENT ONLY INDEMNITY POLICY TO ZENITH RE-INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED." The document was mailed to Dempsey in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Myrehn then telephoned Dempsey and authorized him to accept the application. Thereafter, an "acceptance" was mailed from Zenith to My-rehn in Indiana. The policy of insurance took effect May 18, 1990, and ATA mails monthly - premiums, - apparently - from Indiana where it is incorporated, to a Zenith account in a bank in the Grand Turks. Zenith has issued no other policy of insurance and has no intent to do so.

On May 1, 1990, Department filed a complaint for preliminary injunction against Zenith. The complaint alleged Zenith was engaging in the business of insurance in the State of Indiana without proper autho[204]*204rization. Subsequently, Zenith filed its motion for summary judgment. After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion and entered judgment indicating Zenith was not in violation of the Unauthorized Insurers Act. Department now appeals.

When reviewing the propriety. of ruling on a motion for summary judgment, this court applies the same standard applicable to the trial court. Webb v. Jarvis (1991), Ind., 575 N.E.2d 992, 994. We must consider the pleadings and evidence sanctioned by Ind. Trial Rule 56(c) without deciding its weight or credibility. Id. Only if such evidence shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law should summary judgment be granted. Id. at 995.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

L.

The material facts of this case are undisputed. Rather, the resolution of this matter turns on how these facts relate to the Unauthorized Insurers Act which dictates in relevant part:

Any of the following acts in this state effected by mail or otherwise by or on behalf of an unauthorized insurer constitutes the transaction of an insurance business in this state....
(5) The issuance or delivery of contracts of insurance to residents of this state or to persons authorized to do business in this state.

Ind.Code § 27-4-5-2(b). Zenith contends it was not doing business in the State of Indiana because it engaged in no acts in this state that amounted to the issuance or delivery of an insurance contract. On the other hand, Department argues the actions of Zenith clearly demonstrate the delivery of an insurance contract within the meaning of the statute.

No Indiana court has interpreted the word "delivery" as it applies to I.C. § 27-4-5-2(b). However, when a particular word is not defined by statute, we are bound to give the word its plain and ordinary meaning. Board of School Trustees of School Town of Speedway v. Indiana Educ. Employment Relations Bd. (1986), Ind.App., 498 N.E.2d 1006, trans. denied.

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Indiana Department of Insurance v. Zenith Re-Insurance Co.
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583 N.E.2d 201, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 2201, 1992 WL 50, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/indiana-department-of-insurance-v-zenith-re-insurance-co-indctapp-1991.