Loc Thien Truong v. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co.

211 P.3d 430
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 13, 2009
Docket61202-6-I
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 211 P.3d 430 (Loc Thien Truong v. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Loc Thien Truong v. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co., 211 P.3d 430 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

211 P.3d 430 (2009)

LOC THIEN TRUONG, Appellant,
v.
ALLSTATE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent.

No. 61202-6-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 13, 2009.

*431 Ronald Lewis Unger, Buckley & Associates PS Inc., Seattle, WA, Derek P. Radtke, Phillips & Webster, Woodinville, WA, for Appellant.

Michael Simpson Rogers, Pamela A. Okano, Reed McClure, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

BECKER, J.

¶ 1 A claimant who receives personal injury protection benefits after being involved in a car accident must reimburse his insurer after he has been fully compensated for actual losses suffered. Settling with the tortfeasor is evidence of full compensation, and the claimant cannot defeat the insurer's right to *432 reimbursement with conclusory allegations that he settled for less than his actual damages because he was partially at fault. The trial court in this case correctly ruled on summary judgment that the insurer was entitled to reimbursement.

FACTS

¶ 2 Appellant Loc Thien Truong was involved in a car accident in February 2006. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Truong's insurer, paid Truong's medical bills in the amount of $4,172 under the PIP (personal injury protection) provisions of their insurance contract.

¶ 3 Truong made a claim against the other driver, Phuongthao Dinh. Dinh was insured by Pemco Mutual Insurance Company with limits of $25,000. Truong demanded $34,000. Pemco counter offered $2,500. After Truong served Dinh with a summons and complaint, Pemco settled on behalf of Dinh by paying Truong the sum of $9,347.54.

¶ 4 Taking the position that the settlement did not fully compensate him, Truong asked Allstate to acknowledge waiver of any claim to be reimbursed for the PIP payments. Allstate declined to do so. Truong sued Allstate in March 2007 alleging that Allstate acted in bad faith by refusing to waive reimbursement of PIP. Truong's suit also asserted breach of contract and violation of the Consumer Protection Act.

¶ 5 In September 2007, Allstate moved for partial summary judgment, requesting that Truong's suit be dismissed and that Allstate receive judgment for $4,172, the amount of the PIP payments. The trial court granted this motion.

¶ 6 On January 4, 2008, the trial court entered a series of orders bringing the case to an end. Allstate's counterclaims were dismissed and Truong's request for attorney fees was denied. Judgment was entered for Allstate for $4,172 plus prejudgment interest of $610.24. Truong and his attorneys were ordered to pay Allstate's reasonable attorney fees for filing a groundless action. Truong appeals.[1]

FULL COMPENSATION

¶ 7 An insurer may seek an offset, subrogation, or reimbursement for PIP benefits already paid, but only after an insured is "fully compensated for his loss." Sherry v. Financial Indemnity Co., 160 Wash.2d 611, 618, 160 P.3d 31, 34 (2007), citing Thiringer v. Am. Motors Ins. Co., 91 Wash.2d 215, 219, 588 P.2d 191 (1978).

¶ 8 In Sherry, the amount of the claimant's damages was fixed by underinsured motorist (UIM) arbitration. Damages consisted of some $53,000 in medical bills and $90,000 in general damages. The arbitrator reduced the damage award to 30 percent of the total, or $42,938.38, after finding that Sherry was 70 percent at fault. To calculate the judgment to be entered upon the award, the trial court offset the PIP payments of $14,600 less a pro rata portion of the attorney fees Sherry incurred in acquiring the UIM award. This resulted in a final judgment for $34,792.38. On appeal, Sherry argued that the award did not fully compensate him and therefore he did not have to reimburse his insurer for the PIP payments.

¶ 9 Sherry's insurer argued that "full compensation" was the amount recoverable under UIM after a reduction for comparative fault. The Supreme Court disagreed, relying on a long line of cases that take a broader view of the term "full compensation" and noting that a separate premium is paid for PIP coverage. The court held that insureds are fully compensated when they have made a complete recovery of "the actual losses suffered as a result of an automobile accident" as determined by a court or arbitrator. Sherry, 160 Wash.2d at 614, 160 P.3d 31. Because Sherry's actual losses as determined by the arbitrator were over $140,000, greater than the amount he recovered in UIM benefits, *433 his insurer was not entitled to reimbursement of PIP payments.

¶ 10 Truong did not make any claim for UIM benefits under his policy with Allstate. Thus, arbitration was not available as a factfinding method to establish what his total damages were. But Sherry is not necessarily limited to its context of an arbitration concerning UIM benefits. Because the court broadly interpreted the meaning of the term "full compensation," the rationale for denying an offset to the PIP insurer can be equally applicable in a case where an insured obtains a settlement from a tortfeasor. The question then becomes whether the settlement is full compensation for the actual losses suffered in the automobile accident.

¶ 11 Truong argues that the settlement he received from Pemco did not fully compensate him because, like the UIM award in Sherry, the settlement amount was discounted for his comparative fault. In Truong's view, he is entitled to go to trial to have a court (rather than an arbitrator, as in Sherry) decide the amount of the actual losses he suffered in the accident. He contends the trial court erred by resolving his claim on summary judgment.

¶ 12 In reviewing an order granting a motion for summary judgment, all facts submitted and all reasonable inferences from the facts must be construed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Wilson v. Steinbach, 98 Wash.2d 434, 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (1982).

¶ 13 Allstate set forth facts showing that Truong freely accepted an arms-length settlement from Dinh in an amount less than the limits of Dinh's liability insurance. Such a settlement is some evidence, even if not irrefutable evidence, that the settlement fully compensated Truong.

A nonmoving party in a summary judgment may not rely on speculation, argumentative assertions that unresolved factual issues remain, or in having its affidavits considered at fact value; for after the moving party submits adequate affidavits, the nonmoving party must set forth specific facts that sufficiently rebut the moving party's contentions and disclose that a genuine issue as to a material facts exists.

Seven Gables v. MGM/UA Entertainment, 106 Wash.2d 1, 13, 721 P.2d 1 (1986). Thus, Truong had the burden of rebutting that evidence by showing that his damages were greater than the amount he settled for. Truong did not meet this burden.

¶ 14 The record shows that Allstate paid to repair Truong's vehicle, then asserted a subrogation claim against Pemco. Pemco paid to repair Dinh's vehicle, then asserted a subrogation claim against Allstate. Allstate and Pemco made an agreement concerning their subrogation interests in these payments for property damage.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
211 P.3d 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/loc-thien-truong-v-allstate-property-and-casualty-insurance-co-washctapp-2009.