O'Sullivan v. Geico Casualty Co.

232 F. Supp. 3d 1170, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14724, 2017 WL 1400899
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedFebruary 2, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. 15-cv-1838-WJM-MJW
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 232 F. Supp. 3d 1170 (O'Sullivan v. Geico Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Sullivan v. Geico Casualty Co., 232 F. Supp. 3d 1170, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14724, 2017 WL 1400899 (D. Colo. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Judge William J. Martinez

In this insurance dispute case pending under the Court’s diversity jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1332, Plaintiff Donald O’Sullivan (Plaintiff, or “O’Sullivan”) brings claims for breach of contract, for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, for unreasonable delay or denial of insurance benefits in violation of Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 10-3-1115 & -1116 (ie., “statutory bad faith”), and for exemplary damages against Defendant Geico Casualty Company (Defendant, or “Geico”).

[1172]*1172Now before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 60 (the “Motion,” or “Defendant’s Motion”), seeking judgment as a matter of law against all claims. For the reasons set forth below—centrally because genuine issues of material fact remain for trial as to Plaintiffs claim for contract reformation— Defendant’s Motion is denied.

, I. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is warranted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A fact is “material” if, under the relevant substantive law, it is essential to proper disposition of the claim. Wright v. Abbott Labs., Inc., 259 F.3d 1226, 1231-32 (10th Cir. 2001). An issue is “genuine” if the evidence is such that it might lead a reasonable trier of fact to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Allen v. Muskogee, 119 F.3d 837, 839 (10th Cir. 1997).

In analyzing a motion for summary judgment, a court must view the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670 (10th Cir. 1998) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). In addition, the Court must resolve factual ambiguities against the moving party, thus favoring the right to a trial. See Houston v. Nat’l Gen. Ins. Co., 817 F.2d 83, 85 (10th Cir. 1987).

II. BACKGROUND

The following facts (and those further detailed in Part III.A.3.a., below), are undisputed, except where attributed to one party or another, or to specifically cited evidentiary materials.

Plaintiff was insured by Geico under an automobile insurance policy effective as of August 17, 2013. (ECF No. 60 at 4, ¶ 1.) Plaintiff purchased this policy through Gei-co’s website. Specifically, he first visited www.geico.com on August 9, 2013 to obtain a rate quote, then returned to Geico’s website to complete the online purchase of the insurance policy on August 16, 2013. (Id. ¶ 2.)

The central dispute raised by Geico’s Motion relates to the information which Geico presented to Plaintiff regarding uninsured/underinsured (“UM/UIM”) coverage during and after his visits to Geico’s website. Those facts are further detailed in the analysis below. (See Part III.A.3.a.)

It is undisputed, however, that during Plaintiffs August 16, 2013 visit to Geico’s website, he completed purchase of an auto insurance policy, and that Geico issued a policy with an effective date of August 17, 2013. His policy was issued with limits of $100,000 per person/$300,000 per occurrence (“100/300” limits) for bodily injury liability (“BI”) coverage, and limits of $25,000 per person/$50,000 per occurrence (“25/50” limits) for UM/UIM coverage. (See ECF No. 60 at 14, ¶ 39; ECF No. 60-2 at 24.)

Plaintiffs position, however, is that he intended to purchase a policy with the same limits for both BI and UM/UIM coverage, and that at the time he purchased the insurance policy, he believed that he had, in fact, purchased a policy with 100/300 limits for both BI and UM/UIM coverage, rather than the lower UM/UIM limits he had actually purchased. (See ECF No. 84-2 at 10 (“I thought that [the 100/300 BI limits] was all my coverage”); id. at 21.)

[1173]*1173While covered by his Geico policy, Plaintiff was involved in an auto accident with an uninsured/underinsured motorist, on May 9, 2014. (ECF No. 60 at 12, ¶ 48; ECF No. 72 at 12, ¶ 30.) After resolving his claims with the other driver for the full limits of her insurance (ECF No. 72 at 12-13, ¶ 31), Plaintiff filed a claim with Geico seeking payment of over $164,000 in medical bills. (Id. ¶ 32.) Geico tendered $25,000 in payment on Plaintiffs claim, that is, the full amount of the UM/UIM coverage limit as written in his insurance policy. (See ECF No. 72-11 at 2.) Plaintiff, through his attorney’s communications and eventually in this lawsuit, has demanded that Geico provide UIM coverage up to a higher limit of $100,000. Plaintiff argues that when Gei-co sold Plaintiff his insurance policy, it did not comply with its obligation, arising under Colorado Revised Statutes § 10-4-609(2), to offer Plaintiff “the right to obtain uninsured motorist coverage in an amount equal to the insured’s bodily injury liability limits,” and that Geico therefore must provide UM/UIM coverage equal to his BI coverage limits.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Plaintiff’s Claim For Contract Reformation

The threshold issue raised in this case is whether Plaintiff is entitled to reformation of his insurance contract to provide UIM coverage up to $100,000, rather than the $25,000 limit reflected in the policy as written. “Generally, the purpose of reformation of an insurance contract is to make the policy express the true intent of the parties. However, when a policy is violative of a statute, reformation is also required to assure that coverage will meet the statutory mínimums.” Clark v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 433 F.3d 703, 710 (10th Cir. 2005) (citing Thompson v. Budget Rent-A-Car Sys., Inc., 940 P.2d 987, 990 (Colo.App.1996)).

1. Colorado Revised Statutes § 10-4-609(2) & Parfrey

Here, the contested issue is whether Geico complied with Colorado Revised Statutes § 10-4-609(2), which requires insurers to offer potential customers the opportunity to purchase UM/UIM coverage at limits equal to their BI coverage limits:

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232 F. Supp. 3d 1170, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14724, 2017 WL 1400899, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/osullivan-v-geico-casualty-co-cod-2017.