Langford v. Federated Guaranty Mutual Insurance Co.

543 So. 2d 675, 1989 Ala. LEXIS 234, 1989 WL 52062
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedApril 7, 1989
Docket87-636
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 543 So. 2d 675 (Langford v. Federated Guaranty Mutual Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Langford v. Federated Guaranty Mutual Insurance Co., 543 So. 2d 675, 1989 Ala. LEXIS 234, 1989 WL 52062 (Ala. 1989).

Opinion

HORNSBY, Chief Justice.

Phillip Langford appeals from a summary judgment in favor of Federated Guaranty Insurance Company.1 Langford had sued Federated, alleging fraud and breach of contract in Federated’s handling of his insurance claim.

The trial court in its order granting summary judgment found, and the parties do not disagree, the following facts to be undisputed:

“UNDISPUTED FACTS
“On or about the 8th day of January, 1986 plaintiff purchased a policy of insurance from Federated Guaranty Mutual Insurance Company which has since changed its name to Alfa Mutual General Insurance Company (Alfa Mutual). The policy provided collision coverage regarding an automobile owned by the plaintiff. Regarding such coverage, the insurance policy purchased provided in pertinent part as follows:
“ ‘Coverage E — Deductible Collision.
“‘To pay for loss to the automobile caused by collision with another object or upset of the automobile but only for the amount of each such loss in excess of the deductible amount stated in the declarations as applicable hereto.
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“ ‘Limits of Liability — Settlement Options — No Abandonment — Coverage D and E.
“ ‘The limit of liability for loss to the automobile, part thereof, wearing apparel or luggage, shall not exceed the actual cash value nor what it would then cost to repair or replace such property with like kind and quality, less depreciation and the deductible amount applicable....
“ ‘The company may at its option pay for the loss in money or may repair or replace the automobile or such part thereof as aforesaid or may return any stolen property with payment for any resultant damage thereto at any time before the loss is paid or the property is so replaced or may take all or such part of the automobile at the agreed value, but there shall be no abandonment to the company. ...’
“The deductible under the policy of this plaintiff made the subject of this cause was in the amount of $100.00.
“On or about the 23rd of February 1987, while the subject policy was in full force and effect, the plaintiff was involved in an automobile accident in which the automobile made the subject of the policy before the Court was damaged in a fashion covered by the collision coverage of the policy.
“Ronnie Young, a claims representative of Alfa Mutual advised the plaintiff that Alfa Mutual was willing to settle the claim on the basis of a total loss, meaning that Alfa Mutual would pay to him the sum of $3,800.00 for the collision loss which represented an agreed actual cash value of $3,900.00 minus the deductible of $100.00 and he would transfer title to the damaged property to Alfa Mutual.
“On February 27, 1987 the parties agreed that the claim would be settled on the basis of a total loss by Alfa Mutual’s payment of $3,800.00 representing the agreed actual cash value of $3,900.00 minus the $100.00 deductible and the plaintiff’s transfer of the title of the damaged property to Alfa Mutual. On this occasion the payment was made and title transferred from the plaintiff to Alfa Mutual. However, at a point subsequent to that the plaintiff wrote Alfa Mutual saying that it was his desire for Alfa Mutual to transfer title to the damaged property back to the plaintiff in addition to the previous payment of $3,800.00.
“On or about November 17, 1987, the plaintiff instituted this action against [677]*677Alfa Mutual as a class action, alleging that the ... questions of law common to the class were as follows:
“ ‘(a) Are plaintiff and those similarly situated required to give to defendant the salvage automobile before they are entitled to payment of actual cash value where an automobile has been classified as a total loss?
“ ‘(b) Are plaintiff and those similarly situated required to accept less than actual cash value where they choose to retain the salvage of the insured automobile?’
“The theory of the plaintiffs cause of action was that Alfa Mutual, by and through its agent, misrepresented to the plaintiff that under the laws of the State of Alabama the answer to both questions was in the affirmative.”

The trial court then entered these conclusions of law:

“CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
“The language cited by the Court in the applicable policy under the heading ‘Coverage E — Deductible Collision’ clearly provides that any loss for which Alfa Mutual would owe collision benefits would have a deduction from benefits due of the amount of the applicable deductible, which in this case was $100.00.
“The language contained in the applicable policy under ‘Limits of Liability — 7 With Options — No Abandonment — Coverages D and E’ provides that in the event an automobile is damaged, under circumstances giving rise to collision coverage, the maximum amount due from Alfa Mutual would be either the actual cash value of the vehicle or what it would cost to repair or replace the vehicle with like kind and quality less depreciation, whichever is less, with both limits being subject to the applicable deductible. Further, in the event an automobile is damaged under circumstances giving rise to collision coverage, Alfa Mutual may, at its option 1) pay to the insured the difference in the before and after value minus the deductible, 2) pay for the cost of having the vehicle repaired sufficiently to place it back in the condition in which it existed prior to the accident minus the deductible, or 3) pay the agreed actual cash value minus the deductible and obtain title to the property. The phrase ‘but there shall be no abandonment to the company’ refers to the fact that the decision of which of the three settlement procedures is followed belongs to Alfa and the decision of which settlement procedure will be followed does not belong to the insured. The principle of abandonment has its conceptual roots in [marine] insurance law. Applicable principles provide that in certain circumstances under marine insurance law an insured owner may ‘abandon’ the property to the insurer if he so chooses at his sole option (by delivering title to the damaged property to the insurer) in return for payment of the actual cash value, minus the applicable deductible. Asphalt International, Inc. v. Enterprise Shipping Corporation, 667 F.2d 261 (2d Cir.1981).
“Obviously, when a collision claim is settled on the basis of a total loss, if an insured were entitled to receive the agreed actual cash value of the property plus retain the property (assuming the property was worth anything after the loss) then the insured would be receiving and the insurer would be paying to the insured more than the difference between the value of the vehicle before and after the loss. In a claim settled on the basis of a total loss, this would amount to the insured’s receiving and the company’s paying more than the actual cash value, which would violate the provision that the limit of the insurer’s liability is the actual cash value of the vehicle.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
543 So. 2d 675, 1989 Ala. LEXIS 234, 1989 WL 52062, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langford-v-federated-guaranty-mutual-insurance-co-ala-1989.