PROGRESSIVE COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. Trevino

202 S.W.3d 811, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 5815, 2006 WL 1751147
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 28, 2006
Docket04-05-00113-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 202 S.W.3d 811 (PROGRESSIVE COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. Trevino) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PROGRESSIVE COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. Trevino, 202 S.W.3d 811, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 5815, 2006 WL 1751147 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by

KAREN ANGELINI, Justice.

In this appeal, we are presented with the issue of whether the cooperation clause of an automobile insurance policy, which requires an insured to cooperate with his defense, is a condition precedent to coverage under the policy. Because we hold that the cooperation clause is a condition precedent, we reverse and render.

Background

This appeal concerns a personal injury lawsuit brought in Maverick County by Hector Raul Trevino and Mario Moyeda against Alejandro Alvarado, a driver covered by automobile insurance issued by Progressive County Mutual Insurance Company (“Progressive”). In this Maverick County lawsuit, Trevino and Moyeda obtained a post-answer default judgment against Alvarado. Although Alvarado had timely notified Progressive that he had been served with a negligence suit brought by Trevino and Moyeda, according to Progressive, he later refused to cooperate with his defense. Because Alvarado refused to cooperate, on October 16, 2003, the lawyers hired by Progressive to represent Alvarado withdrew from their representation of Alvarado. However, before withdrawing, the lawyers filed a motion to continue the trial set for October 20, 2003. On October 20th, the district court called the case, and Trevino and Moyeda announced ready. Alvarado, however, did not appear for trial. The district court proceeded to hear evidence and argument from Trevino and Moyeda. It later entered a judgment awarding $45,000 to Trevino and $25,000 to Moyeda.

After obtaining the default judgment against Alvarado, Trevino and Moyeda filed this action against Progressive, arguing that by virtue of the judgment against Alvarado, they had become judgment creditors of Alvarado and thus, had standing to bring a claim directly against Progressive as third-party beneficiaries of the insurance policy. In their petition, Trevino and Moyeda pled that all conditions precedent to bringing the suit had been satisfied. Progressive, however, in its answer, denied that all conditions precedent had been satisfied: “Alejandro Alvarado and Plaintiffs, as judgment creditors, have failed to comply with the cooperation clause contained in the policy of insurance.”

The case was tried to the bench. At trial, Trevino and Moyeda introduced three exhibits: the default judgment in the underlying case; the Progressive insurance policy; and Progressive’s responses to Trevino and Moyeda’s request for admissions. Trevino and Moyeda’s attorney also testified with regard to attorney’s fees. At the conclusion of Trevino and Moyeda’s evidence, Progressive orally moved for judgment, arguing that satisfac[814]*814tion of the cooperation clause is a condition precedent to coverage under the policy. Progressive argued that because the cooperation clause is a condition precedent, Trevino and Moyeda had the burden to show that Alvarado complied with the cooperation clause, and that by failing to present any evidence on the issue of cooperation, they had failed to prove the satisfaction of that condition. Trevino and Moyeda responded by arguing that the cooperation clause was not a condition precedent, but a covenant and that as a covenant, Progressive had the burden of proving that Alvarado did not fulfill the covenant and that Progressive was prejudiced as a result. The trial court denied Progressive’s motion. Progressive then presented its evidence, and at the close of its evidence, again moved for judgment. The trial court again denied the motion and rendered judgment for Trevino and Moyeda.

Progressive then requested findings of fact and conclusions of law, which the trial court later entered. Among its findings, the trial court found that Alvarado “did not unreasonably refuse to cooperate in the investigation, settlement, or defense of the underlying litigation” and that the “defense of the underlying litigation by [Progressive] was not prejudiced by any failure of Alejandro Alvarado to cooperate.” In its conclusions of law, the trial court determined that Alvarado had “not materially breach[ed] the subject insurance policy” and that Trevino and Moyeda were entitled to recover directly from Progressive on the judgment in the underlying suit for an amount capped by the limit imposed by the insurance policy. Progressive moved to modify the judgment and alternatively for a new trial, attacking the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support these findings. The trial court denied the motions, and Progressive brought this appeal.

Cooperation Clause

We must first consider whether the cooperation clause of an automobile insurance policy, which requires an insured to cooperate with his defense, is a condition precedent to coverage under the policy. This issue is a question of law that we review de novo. See Utica Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Am. Indem. Co., 141 S.W.3d 198, 202 (Tex.2004) (insurance policies are controlled by rules of interpretation and construction generally applicable to contracts); MCI Telecomm. Corp. v. Tex. Utils. Elec. Co., 995 S.W.2d 647, 650-51 (Tex.1999) (interpretation of an unambiguous contract is a question of law, which is reviewed de novo).

According to Progressive, the cooperation clause of the policy is a condition precedent. In contrast, Trevino and Moyeda argue that the clause is a covenant. In interpreting whether the cooperation clause is a condition precedent or a covenant, we look to general principles of contract interpretation. See Utica, 141 S.W.3d at 202. “A condition precedent may be either a condition to the formation of a contract or to an obligation to perform an existing agreement.” Hohenberg Bros. v. George E. Gibbons & Co., 537 S.W.2d 1, 3 (Tex.1976); see II Deerfield Ltd. v. Henry Bldg., Inc., 41 S.W.3d 259, 264 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2001, pet. denied). As such, a condition precedent may “relate either to the formation of contracts or to liability under them.” Hohenberg Bros., 537 S.W.2d at 3. “Conditions precedent to an obligation to perform are those acts or events, which occur subsequently to the making of a contract, that must occur before there is a right to immediate performance and before there is a breach of contractual duty.” Id.; Deerfield, 41 S.W.3d at 264. Although no words in particular [815]*815are necessary for the existence of a condition, “such terms as ‘if, ‘provided that’, ‘on condition that’, or some other phrase that conditions performance, usually connote an intent for a condition rather than a promise.” Hohenberg Bros., 537 S.W.2d at 8; Deerfield, 41 S.W.3d at 264-65. “In the absence of such a limiting clause, whether a certain contractual provision is a condition, rather than a promise, must be gathered from the contract as a whole and from the intent of the parties.” Hohenberg Bros., 537 S.W.2d at 3; Deerfield, 41 S.W.3d at 265. “However, where the intent of the parties is doubtful or where a condition would impose an absurd or impossible result then the agreement will be interpreted as creating a covenant rather than a condition.” Hohenberg Bros., 537 S.W.2d at 3.

In Harwell v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.,

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202 S.W.3d 811, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 5815, 2006 WL 1751147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/progressive-county-mutual-insurance-company-v-trevino-texapp-2006.