Moratti Ex Rel. Tarutis v. Farmers Ins. Co.

254 P.3d 939
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 5, 2011
Docket64477-7-I
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 254 P.3d 939 (Moratti Ex Rel. Tarutis v. Farmers Ins. 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
Moratti Ex Rel. Tarutis v. Farmers Ins. Co., 254 P.3d 939 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

254 P.3d 939 (2011)

Emily L. MORATTI, a minor, by and through her Litigation Guardian Ad Litem Gerald R. TARUTIS, Appellant,
v.
FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY OF WASHINGTON; Farmers Group Inc., d/b/a Farmers Insurance Group Of Companies, And Farmers Insurance Exchange, Does 1 though 10, et al., Respondents.

No. 64477-7-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 5, 2011.

*940 Howard Mark Goodfriend, Catherine Smith, Edwards Sieh Smith & Goodfriend PS, Robert Kevin Dawson, Peter Brown, Dawson Brown PS, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Jerret E. Sale, Deborah Lynn Carstens, Bullivant Houser Bailey PC, Seattle, WA, Philip Albert Talmadge, Talmadge/Fitzpatrick, Tukwila, WA, Douglas G. Houser, Bullivant Houser Bailey PC, Portland, WA, for Respondents.

GROSSE, J.

¶ 1 For purposes of the statute of limitations, a bad faith claim against an insurer accrues when the underlying judgment against the insured becomes final. Here, the action was commenced well within the applicable statutory period, three years after entry of a judgment in the underlying tort action. We reverse the trial court's decision setting aside the jury verdict, reverse the trial court on its refusal to submit the Consumer Protection Act (CPA)[1] claim to the jury, and remand for further proceedings.

*941 FACTS

¶ 2 On May 1, 2002, then 16-month-old Emily Woodrow, now Moratti, sustained extensive burn injuries as a result of a fire at a rental house owned by William Lipscomb and insured by Farmers Insurance Company of Washington. The premises were rented to Richard Woodrow on or about October 2001. Woodrow resided there with his daughter, Emily's mother, and Emily. The fire department eventually determined that the cause of the fire was a lighted candle left unattended. There was no smoke alarm. Moratti hired an attorney, who informed Farmers of his representation and requested a copy of the rental agreement. Moratti's attorney made several demands to the insurance adjuster, and requested liability limits and copies of the rental agreement. On May 29, 2002, Farmers' adjuster, Renee Becker, informed counsel that Lipscomb was not negligent and she was closing the injury claim. On July 17, 2002, Moratti's attorney sent Becker a copy of the statute that set forth a landlord's duties regarding smoke alarms to Farmers, requesting a copy of the mandatory tenant smoke detector acknowledgement required by state law and municipal regulation. Becker did not respond. On August 6, 2002, counsel wrote Becker again requesting Lipscomb's policy limits. On August 21, 2002, counsel wrote Becker informing her that Emily's medical bills were now $793,000 and again requested the policy limits information, a copy of the lease, and the smoke detector notice as well as documents that showed the fire department had found no negligence. These requests were also ignored. On October 10, 2002, counsel faxed a letter to Becker requesting the same information. This time Becker responded, admitting that there was no signed smoke detector notice, but again denied any negligence for the injury. Moratti's counsel called Becker to ask if he should send the settlement package in hopes that it would "change [her] mind" about liability. Becker told counsel not to bother, informing him that the decision on no liability was final. Between May 1, 2002 and July 25, 2003, Farmers did not communicate with their insured, Lipscomb, that Moratti's attorney was attempting to settle her claims against him.

¶ 3 Farmers hired Jack Shouman of Fire Protection Consultants to investigate the fire. Shouman completed his report on July 1, 2002. Only one non-working smoke detector was recovered in a location far from the infant's bedroom. As a result of that report and the public agency reports, Farmers knew that no operating smoke detector was found in the house. The reserve for Moratti's claim was $5,000 even though Farmers knew that almost $800,000 of medical bills had already been incurred.

¶ 4 Moratti filed a lawsuit on July 25, 2003. Farmers accepted tender of that suit and provided a defense. Farmers assigned a new adjuster, Kyle Burns, who met with Lipscomb in February 2004. Lipscomb informed him that he had hired a worker to install the smoke alarms. Assessing Lipscomb as a poor witness and likely to be found liable, Burns recommended offering the policy limits. On March 15, 2004, Lipscomb was informed for the first time that he might be liable for more than his coverage. In April 2004, Farmers offered $100,000 to settle the case. The offer was rejected.

¶ 5 On January 27, 2007, Lipscomb entered into a settlement agreement in which he agreed to pay $600,000 of his own funds and stipulated to entry of judgment against him for $17 million in an exchange for a covenant not to execute the judgment. He assigned Moratti his bad faith and CPA claims against Farmers. Farmers intervened and attended the reasonableness hearing where the stipulated judgment and settlement were approved. Farmers did not contest the reasonableness of the judgment, nor the trial court's findings that the judgment was reasonable and not the product of fraud or collusion.

¶ 6 In 2008, Moratti brought this action alleging Farmers' bad faith and violation of the CPA. The case was initially assigned to the trial judge who had presided over the reasonableness hearing. That judge denied Farmers' motion to dismiss the action based on the argument that the statute of limitations had run. Because of scheduling conflicts, the matter was reassigned to another trial judge.

*942 ¶ 7 At the conclusion of evidence in a four-week trial, the trial court granted Farmers' CR 50 motion dismissing the CPA claim on the grounds that Lipscomb's $600,000 contribution to the settlement was not an injury to business or property. The jury considered the remaining bad faith claim and returned a verdict in Moratti's favor. Farmers moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and in the alternative a new trial. The trial court set aside the jury verdict holding that Moratti's third party bad faith claim against Farmers was barred by the statute of limitations. Alternatively, the trial court held that Farmers was entitled to a new trial because there was insufficient evidence to support a jury instruction that Farmers had a duty to act in good faith and because the trial court erred in excluding evidence in its ER 403 ruling. Moratti appeals.

ANALYSIS

Statute of Limitations

¶ 8 Moratti first argues that the court did not have authority to modify the partial summary judgment in which it had previously ruled, as a matter of law, that the affirmative statute of limitations defense was not available to Farmers. However, absent a proper certification of finality, "an order which adjudicates fewer than all claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all parties is subject to revision at any time before entry of final judgment as to all claims and the rights and liabilities of all parties."[2] Here, the claim of bad faith still needed to be adjudicated.

¶ 9 Nevertheless, it was error for the trial judge to dismiss the action on grounds that it was barred by the statute of limitations. There is a three-year statute of limitations for tort claims.[3] An action for bad faith in the handling of an insurance claim is a tort.[4] In Bush v. Safeco Insurance Co. of America,[5]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
254 P.3d 939, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moratti-ex-rel-tarutis-v-farmers-ins-co-washctapp-2011.