McMahon v. Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n

596 So. 2d 1384, 1992 WL 46294
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 6, 1992
DocketCA 91 0049
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 596 So. 2d 1384 (McMahon v. Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McMahon v. Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 596 So. 2d 1384, 1992 WL 46294 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

596 So.2d 1384 (1992)

David McMAHON
v.
LOUISIANA INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION.

No. CA 91 0049.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 6, 1992.
Rehearing Denied May 6, 1992.

*1386 Jack M. Dampf, Broussard & Dampf, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee David McMahon.

Henry G. Terhoeve, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant Louisiana Ins. Guar. Ass'n.

Before WATKINS, CARTER and FOIL, JJ.

FOIL, Judge.

At issue in this appeal is whether the insured, a Louisiana corporation, is a "resident" of the State of Louisiana for the purpose of determining whether the plaintiff's claim is a "covered claim" under the scope of the Louisiana Guaranty Law and if so, whether the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) is entitled to credits for various amounts of money received by the claimant and his spouse to offset its liability. We hold that a Louisiana corporation which is conducting business in this state is a "resident" of Louisiana, subjecting LIGA to liability on this covered claim, and deny LIGA's demands for credits against that liability. We affirm the trial court.

FACTS

On March 13, 1984, David McMahon was injured in a rear-end collision occurring in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the vehicle in which he was riding was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer rig driven by Frances Teter. At the time of the accident, Ms. Teter, who is not a Louisiana resident or domiciliary, was in the course and scope of her employment by Caravan Refrigerated Cargo, Inc. (Caravan). Mr. McMahon filed a tort suit in a federal district court in Pennsylvania against Caravan and Frances Teter, and obtained a default judgment against both defendants on November 23, 1987, in the amount $1,865,000.00. The judge found that Mr. McMahon was totally and permanently disabled because of the accident, which was caused by the negligence of Frances Teter, and apportioned damages as follows: $500,000.00 for past and future wage loss; $365,000.00 for past and future medical expenses, and $1,000,000.00 for pain and suffering.

At the time of the accident, Caravan was insured by Carriers Insurance Company. In January of 1986, Carriers, an admitted company within the scope of the Louisiana Guaranty Law, was declared insolvent. Mr. McMahon filed the present action in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, seeking to enforce his Pennsylvania judgment against LIGA. He argued that his claim is a "covered claim" within the scope of the Louisiana Guaranty Law because Caravan, a Louisiana corporation, was a "resident" of Louisiana at the time of the accident. LIGA denied liability, asserting that Mr. McMahon's claim is not a "covered claim" because Caravan was a resident of either *1387 Texas or California, and therefore, the claim is not covered because the claimant and the insured are residents of states other than Louisiana. Alternatively, LIGA sought credits for sums of money received by Mr. McMahon and his wife in payment or settlement of their claims arising out of the accident.

The record shows that Mr. McMahon received $40,000.00 in uninsured motorist benefits from his own insurance carrier and the insurer of the vehicle in which he was riding. Additionally, he received weekly worker's compensation benefits since the date of the accident. Mr. McMahon also filed suit against the Texas Property and Casualty Advisory Association (Texas' Guaranty Association) and the Pennsylvania Insurance Guaranty Association; these claims are currently pending. Mr. McMahon's wife, Paulette, who was not involved in the accident, received the statutory limitation of $100,000.00 from the Texas Guaranty Association in settlement of her loss of consortium claim.

Upon considering the evidence presented, the trial court ruled that Caravan was a resident of Louisiana at the time of the accident, therefore subjecting LIGA to liability on the covered claim before it. The court further denied all of LIGA's demands for credits, holding LIGA liable for its statutory limits of $150,000.00, minus the statutory deductible of $100.00. LIGA took this appeal, challenging the liability ruling and alternatively, the trial court's refusal to credit the amounts of money received by Mr. McMahon and his wife against its liability.

COVERAGE

We first address the issue of whether David McMahon's claim is a "covered claim" under the scope of the Louisiana Guaranty Law. La.R.S. 22:1379(3)(a) sets forth the definition of a "covered claim" for the purpose of the Guaranty Law:

(3)(a) "Covered claim" means an unpaid claim ... which arises out of and is within the coverage and not in excess of the applicable limits of an insurance policy to which this Part applies issued by an insurer, if such insurer becomes an insolvent insurer after September 1, 1970, and:
(i) The claimant or insured is a resident of this state at the time of the insured event; or
(ii) The property from which the claim arises is permanently located in this state.

Because Mr. McMahon, the claimant, was not a resident of Louisiana, the only way his claim can be a covered one is if Caravan, the insured, was a resident of Louisiana at the time of the insured event. LIGA argues that the legislature intended to limit the residency requirement in La. R.S. 22:1379(3)(a)(i) to only one state. It urges this court to establish a rule that either the claimant or the insured must exclusively reside in the state of Louisiana in order for a claim to be a "covered claim" under that provision. Because Caravan operated its business out of Texas, LIGA submits that it is a resident of Texas and cannot, therefore, also be a resident of Louisiana. In support of this argument, LIGA points to La.R.S. 22:1386 of the Guaranty Law which states, in pertinent part:

B. Any person having a claim which may be recovered under more than one insurance guaranty association or its equivalent shall seek recovery first from the association of the place of residence of the insured.....

LIGA insists that this language is indicative of the legislature's intent to limit the residency requirement to only one state, because the legislature refers to the "place" of the residence of the insured rather than "places." It also points to other instances where the legislature has defined the terms "residence" or "domicile" to mean something other than the ordinary meaning given to those terms.

The rules of statutory construction require this court to determine the intent and *1388 purpose of the legislature in enacting the law and to give effect, if possible, to that intent and purpose. Backhus v. Transit Casualty Company, 549 So.2d 283 (La. 1989). It is a well-settled premise of statutory construction that the words chosen by the legislature must be read in context and construed according to their common meaning. La.R.S. 1:3; Succession of Brown, 468 So.2d 794 (La.App. 1st Cir.1985). We are asked to construe the term "resident" in the context of the Louisiana Guaranty Law, which itself mandates that a liberal construction be employed in interpreting the law to carry out its purposes, one of which is to avoid financial loss to claimants because of the insolvency of an insurer. La.R.S. 22:1376; La.R.S. 22:1378; Senac v. Sandefer, 418 So.2d 543 (La.1982). When the legislature utilizes a term with a well-known meaning, it is logical to conclude that the intent was to convey the same meaning to that term. Thomas v. Thomas, 440 So.2d 879 (La.App. 2d Cir.), writ denied,

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596 So. 2d 1384, 1992 WL 46294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcmahon-v-louisiana-ins-guar-assn-lactapp-1992.