Karon Business Forms, Inc. v. Skandia Insurance

80 F.R.D. 501, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13968
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 7, 1978
DocketCiv. No. 78-2
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 80 F.R.D. 501 (Karon Business Forms, Inc. v. Skandia Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karon Business Forms, Inc. v. Skandia Insurance, 80 F.R.D. 501, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13968 (prd 1978).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

TOLEDO, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Karon Business Forms, Inc. (“Karon”), is claiming from defendant Skandia Insurance Company, Ltd. (“Skandia”), $94,864.05 in damages suffered by plaintiff in a fire at plaintiff’s premises on May 12, 1977. Karon was insured with the Commonwealth Insurance Company (“Commonwealth”), presently in the midst of liquidation proceedings under Title 26, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, Sections 4001 et seq., under a policy issued by Commonwealth on August 1, 1976. The policy was endorsed by Skandia on September 8, 1976. (See Exh. 1 to plaintiff’s first Request for Admissions and Paragraphs 3 — 5 of the Re[503]*503quest). Skandia is presently attempting to both amend its original answer to the complaint as well as to implead a large number of alleged co-insurers, three insurance brokers, and the Commissioner of Insurance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“Commissioner”). We have no reservations regarding the amendment of the answer. Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We see no undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive, or prejudice to the adverse party sufficient to hold otherwise. Plaintiff himself has stated that defendant’s motions will soon be academic as plaintiff intends to file an amended complaint. (See Memorandum in opposition to defendant’s motions, filed October 5, 1978, at p. 2).

The motion for leave to implead does pose a problem. Skandia has moved for leave to implead the co-reinsurers of Commonwealth, and certain insurance brokers, alleging that all of them may be liable to defendant on the basis of (1) Skandia’s alleged entitlement to subrogation rights as a guarantor; (2) existence of a constructive trust or an equitable lien as to the reinsurance proceeds retained by the co-reinsurers. Defendant admits that the endorsement was validly signed by one of its officers, but avers that the issuance of the endorsement had as its condition precedent that Commonwealth obtain commitments from the co-reinsurers for any payments made pursuant to the endorsement, according to the proportionate treaty shares of each of the co-reinsurers. Skandia alleges that the co-reinsurers were fully aware of this condition and of the endorsement agreement. Brokers Interocean Agency, J. H. Minet and Co., and Sedgwick Forbes, were allegedly requested by Skandia to obtain indemnity agreements from certain coreinsurers, which the brokers supposedly failed to do. According to Skandia, since Commonwealth did not obtain the aforementioned agreements through the brokers or directly from the co-reinsurers, the endorsement was issued without authority and defendant is entitled to rescission. Skandia could then be held liable only under the reinsurance treaties, as an ordinary reinsurer on an equal footing with the other reinsurers. This would also imply that plaintiff would not be in privity of contract with Skandia and would have no direct action against defendant. Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice, Section 7694. Alternatively, defendant alleges that if the endorsement was indeed issued validly, the co-reinsurers would be liable on the endorsement under the reinsurance treaties. Skandia avers that if Commonwealth had remained solvent,

“the co-reinsurers would have been required to pay Commonwealth the amounts owing by virtue of this loss under the reinsurance agreements between Commonwealth and these reinsurers.”

We hold that Skandia may not be allowed to implead the co-reinsurers. Skandia’s claim against the co-reinsurers appears to be independent from the action at bar. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a “claim” is a group or aggregate of operative facts giving ground or occasion for judicial action. Moore’s Federal Practice 14.07. The “operative facts” in plaintiff’s claim against Skandia are: (1) the issuance of the insurance policy by Commonwealth; (2) endorsement of said policy by Skandia; (3) Commonwealth’s acceptance of the validity of plaintiff’s claim on the policy; (4) failure of Commonwealth to pay within the specified time. The operative facts in Skandia’s claim against the co-reinsurers and brokers would be: (1) the terms of the reinsurance treaties between Commonwealth and the reinsurers; (2) the co-rein-surer’s notice of the condition precedent agreed upon by plaintiff and Skandia; (3) the co-reinsurer’s failure to act thereupon; (4) Commonwealth’s acceptance of the validity of plaintiff’s claim; (5) Commonwealth’s insolvency. We believe that the operative facts involved in defendant’s third party claim against the brokers and co-reinsurers are sufficiently distinct as to give rise to an independent claim. But this is not all.

The record does not include a copy of the reinsurance treaty between Commonwealth and Skandia or any of the other reinsurers. [504]*504However, we are struck with a flaw in defendant’s reasoning so basic that the specific terms of the treaties are rendered irrelevant. Granted that Commonwealth, if solvent, would have been able to claim reinsurance proceeds from the co-reinsurers. Granted too, that if there had been a condition precedent to the endorsement agreement, the endorsement may have been issued by Commonwealth without authority. Yet, we fail to see how these arguments, singly or in combination, can lead to the conclusion that the defendant has a proper third party claim against the co-reinsurers. Commonwealth’s purported lack of authority in issuing the endorsement would imply, at most, that Commonwealth would be liable to Skandia for breach of the condition precedent or (a highly questionable proposition) that the endorsement may be invalid. And if Commonwealth had been solvent, all the co-reinsurers would indeed be obliged to pay their prorata shares to reimburse Commonwealth for any payments it made. But the fact is that Commonwealth is not solvent and was not able to satisfy plaintiff’s claim within the time stipulated in the policy. More importantly, there exists in this case an endorsement which bound one, and only one, of the reinsurers to pay a specific insured for any losses upon Commonwealth’s failure to pay within a certain period. Hypothetical arguments based on a solvent Commonwealth Insurance Company are thus inapposite. The flaw in defendant’s argument, then, is that there seems to exist only a very tenuous link between it and the co-reinsurers.

Defendant further contends that the issues raised by impleader of the co-reinsurers are related to the endorsement because the reinsurance proceeds owing under the treaties are in fact the same proceeds allegedly owing under the endorsement. But this is an oversimplification. As we suggested hereinabove, if defendant pays plaintiff, defendant could have an action against Commonwealth for its negligence or bad faith in failing to comply with the above stated condition precedent. As something like a guarantor for Commonwealth, once Skandia pays Commonwealth’s creditor (plaintiff) Skandia can be subrogated against the principal, Commonwealth. Puerto Rico Civil Code, Art. 1738, Title 31, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, Section 4912. And under the reinsurance treaties, Commonwealth may be able to claim from the reinsurers their prorata shares under the treaty. But we strongly doubt that Skandia could be subrogated in Commonwealth’s position to claim directly against the co-reinsurers, even if the reinsurance proceeds owing under the treaties would in theory or in practice be used by Commonwealth to satisfy Skandia’s claim against it.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 F.R.D. 501, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13968, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karon-business-forms-inc-v-skandia-insurance-prd-1978.