Sasser-Ford v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

112 So. 3d 968, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 1375, 2013 WL 1319493, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 642
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 3, 2013
DocketNo. 12-1375
StatusPublished

This text of 112 So. 3d 968 (Sasser-Ford v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.) 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
Sasser-Ford v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 112 So. 3d 968, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 1375, 2013 WL 1319493, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 642 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

h Plaintiff appeals from the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of Defendant. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Patricia Sasser-Ford (Sasser-Ford), and Dr. Roy Sasser, Jr. (Dr. Sas-ser) were married in 1987. Once married, they lived in Sulphur, Louisiana. The Sas-ser property consisted of a main house located at 3236 Queen Circle and a guest house located at 3235 Castle Drive. Sas-ser-Ford and Dr. Sasser lived in the main house, and Dr. Sasser’s parents lived in the guest house.

The Sasser property was covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy with State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (State Farm) since 1984. The original application for coverage was completed by Dr. Sasser on October 30, 1984. A copy of the policy was provided to Dr. Sasser at the inception of coverage. It was noted on this original insurance application that Dr. Sas-ser was furnishing a guest house to his parents and that there was no remuneration with regard to same.

Dr. Sasser died on January 22, 1997. Following his death, Dr. Sasser’s parents continued to reside in the guest house. On August 20, 1997, Sasser-Ford requested that the name on homeowner’s policy be changed from Dr. Sasser to hers. At that time, Sasser-Ford was listed as the named insured on the homeowner’s policy covering the main house. It is undisputed that she was not provided with a copy of the policy after it was changed to list her as the named insured.

The guest house continued to be used as a home for Sasser-Ford’s in-laws until 1998. Shortly after the death of her father-in-law, Sasser-Ford began to rent |2out the guest house to various tenants. She consistently rented the guest house from 1998 through September 24, 2005, the date of Hurricane Rita. As a result of Hurricane Rita, a large tree fell onto the guest house causing both exterior and interior damage. Hurricane Rita also damaged the main house.

Sasser-Ford filed a claim under the State Farm homeowner’s policy for the damages to the main house and guest house. State Farm paid Sasser-Ford for all damages that were sustained to the main house but denied coverage for the damage sustained to the guest house based on an exclusion in the policy. This exclusion provides that there is no coverage for a dwelling extension that has been rented or held for rental to a person not a tenant of the dwelling.

As a result of the denial of coverage for the damages to the guest house, Sasser-Ford filed the subject lawsuit against State Farm and her insurance agent, Ronnie Johns (Johns). State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment based on the policy exclusion which was subsequently granted by the trial court. That judgment was not appealed and became final. Johns also filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that he did not owe any particular duty to Sasser-Ford; and even assuming that he did, any claim by Sasser-Ford would be perempted as a result of her not having filed suit within three years of the alleged act, omission, or neglect. The trial court denied Johns’ motion for summary judgment.

Sasser-Ford’s claims against Johns proceeded to trial by jury on December 6 and 7, 2010. At the conclusion of Sasser-Ford’s case, defense counsel moved for a directed verdict on the grounds that Sas-ser-Ford’s claim was barred by peremp[970]*970tion. The trial court agreed and dismissed all claims against Johns. Sasser-Ford filed a motion for new trial alleging that the trial court erroneously made a credibility determination in granting the directed verdict. Sasser-Ford’s motion for new trial | c.was granted. Johns thereafter applied for a supervisory writ to this court seeking a review of the correctness of the trial court’s granting of a new trial. The supervisory writ was denied by this court. See Patricia Sasser-Ford v. Ronnie Johns, an unpublished writ bearing docket number 11-1021 (La.App. 3 Cir. 9/9/11).

Johns then applied for a supervisory writ to the Louisiana Supreme Court seeking review of this court’s writ denial and the trial court’s granting of a new trial. The supreme court granted the writ. The trial court’s judgment granting the new trial was vacated and set aside, and the matter was remanded to the trial court with instructions. Patricia Sasser-Ford v. Ronnie Johns, 11-2189 (La.11/23/11), 78 So.3d 749. After a hearing on the motion for new trial, the trial court again granted Sasser-Ford’s motion for new trial.

Johns filed another motion for summary judgment asserting that he did not owe a duty to Sasser-Ford under the facts of the subject case. Following a July 17, 2012 hearing, the trial court granted the motion for summary judgment and dismissed all claims against Johns. It is from this ruling that Sasser-Ford appeals.

DISCUSSION

Sasser-Ford contends that the trial court erred in ruling that where a client gives specific notice to the agent that she is using her property in a way that voids coverage under a policy exclusion, the agent owes no duty to advise his client that the policy he sold to her does not provide coverage for her property.

“Summary judgments are reviewed de novo on appeal, with the reviewing court using the same criteria that govern the trial court’s determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate; whether there is any genuine issue of material fact, and whether the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” La. Safety Ass’n of Timbermen Self-Insurers Fund v. La. Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 09-23, p. 5 (La.6/26/09), 17 So.3d 350, 353.

I. Applicability of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Holding in Isidore

In Isidore Newman School v. J. Everett Eaves, Inc., 09-2161 (La.7/6/10), 42 So.3d 352, Isidore Newman School (Newman) suffered damage to its physical structure following Hurricane Katrina. As a result, Newman was closed for over two months and suffered a loss of tuition revenue/income totaling approximately $3,166,606. Newman filed a suit against their insurance agency and the agency’s errors and omissions insurer, alleging that a broker from the agency “was negligent in failing to advise the school that the [Business Income and Extra Expense (BI & EE) ] coverage covered income/tuition losses and that amount was not sufficient to cover tuition losses, and in misleading the school into believing that the BI & EE coverage was limited to physical damages to buildings.” Id. at 354. The supreme court held the following:

An agent has a duty of “reasonable diligence” to advise the client, but this duty has not been expanded to include the obligation to advise whether the client has procured the correct amount or type of insurance coverage. It is the insured’s responsibility to request the type of insurance coverage, and the amount of coverage needed. It is not the agent’s obligation to spontaneously or affirmatively identify the scope or the amount of insurance coverage the client [971]*971needs. It is also well settled that it is [the] insured’s obligation to read the policy when received, since the insured is deemed to know the policy contents.

Id. at 359. The supreme court also stated the following:

The courts have noted that “the ‘advice’ that an agent had an affirmative duty to give the insured” involved “aspects of the policies ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
112 So. 3d 968, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 1375, 2013 WL 1319493, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sasser-ford-v-state-farm-fire-casualty-co-lactapp-2013.