Sabine Towing & Transportation Co. v. Holliday Insurance Agency, Inc.

54 S.W.3d 57, 2001 WL 761436
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 9, 2001
Docket06-00-00099-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 54 S.W.3d 57 (Sabine Towing & Transportation Co. v. Holliday Insurance Agency, Inc.) 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
Sabine Towing & Transportation Co. v. Holliday Insurance Agency, Inc., 54 S.W.3d 57, 2001 WL 761436 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinions

OPINION

CORNELIUS, Chief Justice.

Sabine Towing & Transportation Co., Inc. (Sabine) appeals from a take-nothing judgment in its suit against Holliday Insurance Agency, Inc. (Holliday) for negligent misrepresentation and violation of Tex.Ins.Code Ann. art. 21.21 (Vernon Supp. 2001). In two points of error, Sabine challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence, contending that the trial court erred by finding that Sabine’s suit was barred by the two-year statute of limitations; and that Holliday neither made misrepresentations as to insurance coverage nor violated Article 21.21 of the Texas Insurance Code. We find that the trial court correctly held that Sabine’s suit was barred by limitations, and we affirm the judgment.

Sabine’s suit arose from a personal injury sustained by Danny LeLeux, an employee of Superin, Inc., one of Sabine’s subcontractors. In February 1991, LeLeux was working on the S/S Pecos, one of Sabine’s vessels docked in Port Arthur, Texas, and he slipped and injured his back. In contemplation of situations such as this, Sabine required all its contractors to have a current certificate of insurance on file with its insurance and risk management department. In early October 1990, Supe-rln purchased a comprehensive general liability (CGL) policy with ship repairers liability coverage from Holliday Insurance Agency. In addition to the CGL, the policy also contained blanket waivers of subro-gation as well as blanket waivers of additional insureds endorsements. Because Superin routinely performed work for Sabine, a copy of its certificate of insurance was forwarded to Sabine via Holliday on October 16, 1990. LeLeux filed suit against Sabine on June 12, 1991. Sabine sought liability coverage under Superin’s insurance policy via the blanket waiver of subrogation and additional insureds endorsement provisions included on the insurance certificate on file for Superin, which were named in favor of Sabine. Counsel for Sabine sent a letter to Edna Holliday, president of Holliday, on July 8, 1991, seeking a determination of coverage. Sabine did not receive a response until April 1992, approximately nine months later, when Richard Schwartz, on behalf of [59]*59Holliday, indicated that Sabine was not covered by Superin’s policy. On March 21, 1994, Sabine filed a third-party action against Holliday for negligently misrepresenting that Sabine was an additional insured under Superin’s policy.1 Sabine settled with LeLeux in July 1994 for $250,000.00, of which all but $25,000.00 was paid by Sabine’s liability insurance carrier. After a nonjury trial in November 1999, the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment in favor of Holliday.

Sabine attacks both the legal and factual sufficiency of the trial court’s findings that (1) the two-year statute of limitations barred its causes of action, arguing that the discovery rule should apply to defer the commencement of the limitations period, and that (2) Holliday neither negligently misrepresented that Sabine was covered by Superin’s policy nor violated Article 21.21 of the Texas Insurance Code.

When both legal and factual sufficiency grounds are raised, we review the legal sufficiency point first to determine whether there is any probative evidence to support the jury’s verdict. See Glover v. Texas Gen. Indem. Co., 619 S.W.2d 400, 401 (Tex.1981). The traditional legal sufficiency or no-evidence test requires us to consider only the evidence favorable to the verdict, disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary, and determine whether any probative evidence exists to support the verdict. See Universe Life Ins. Co. v. Giles, 950 S.W.2d 48, 51 (Tex.1997); Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Alexander, 868 S.W.2d 322, 326-27 (Tex.1993); Weirich v. Weirich, 833 S.W.2d 942, 945 (Tex.1992). If more than a scintilla of evidence supports the jury’s finding, the no-evidence challenge fails. See Leitch v. Hornsby, 935 S.W.2d 114, 118 (Tex.1996); Stafford v. Stafford, 726 S.W.2d 14, 16 (Tex.1987). When the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is so weak as to do no more than create a mere surmise or suspicion of its existence, the evidence is no more than a scintilla and, in legal effect, is no evidence. See Kindred v. Con/Chem, Inc., 650 S.W.2d 61, 63 (Tex.1983); Seideneck v. Cal Bayreuther Assocs., 451 S.W.2d 752, 755 (Tex.1970).

The standard for a factual sufficiency review requires us to review all the evidence, both favorable and unfavorable to the verdict, and determine whether the verdict is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly wrong or unjust. See Ortiz v. Jones, 917 S.W.2d 770, 772 (Tex.1996); Cain v. Bain, 709 S.W.2d 175, 176 (Tex.1986). Findings of fact and conclusions of law have the same force and dignity as a jury’s verdict, and are reviewable for sufficiency of the evidence by the same standards that are applied in reviewing a jury’s verdict. Anderson v. City of Seven Points, 806 S.W.2d 791, 794 (Tex.1991). Although we are required to review all the evidence, we may not interfere with the fact finder’s resolution of conflicts in the evidence. See Am.’s Favorite Chicken Co. v. Samaras, 929 S.W.2d 617, 628-29 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1996, writ denied); Lawson-Avila Constr., Inc. v. Stoutamire, 791 S.W.2d 584, 594 (Tex.App.San Antonio 1990, writ denied). Where conflicting evidence is presented, the fact finder’s verdict on such matters is generally considered to be conclusive. See Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Scharrenbeck, 146 Tex. 153, 204 S.W.2d 508, 511-12 (1947).

A cause of action generally accrues, and the statute of limitations begins [60]*60to run, when facts come into existence that authorize a party to seek a judicial remedy. Johnson & Higgins of Texas, Inc. v. Kenneco Energy, Inc., 962 S.W.2d 507, 514 (Tex.1998), citing Murray v. San Jacinto Agency, Inc., 800 S.W.2d 826, 828 (Tex.1990). In most cases, a cause of action accrues when a wrongful act causes an injury, regardless of when the plaintiff learns of that injury or if all resulting damages have yet to occur. S.V. R.V., 933 S.W.2d 1, 4 (Tex.1996). More specifically, actions for violations of the Insurance Code or for negligent misrepresentation must be brought within two years of the day the cause of action accrues. See Tex.Ins.Code Ann. art. 21.21, § 16(d) (Vernon Supp.2001); Milestone Props., Inc. v. Federated Metals Corp., 867 S.W.2d 113, 118 (Tex.App.—Austin 1993, no writ).

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Sabine Towing & Transportation Co. v. Holliday Insurance Agency, Inc.
54 S.W.3d 57 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)

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