State ex rel. Division of Administration v. Alexander & Alexander, Inc.

477 So. 2d 753, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10042
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 27, 1985
DocketNo. 84 CA 0569
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 477 So. 2d 753 (State ex rel. Division of Administration v. Alexander & Alexander, Inc.) 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
State ex rel. Division of Administration v. Alexander & Alexander, Inc., 477 So. 2d 753, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10042 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinions

SHORTESS, Judge.

Alexander & Alexander, Inc. (A & A) and Southeastern Fire Insurance Company (SEFIC) appeal suspensively from a final judgment rendered against them in favor of the State of Louisiana, through the Division of Administration, the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District and HMC Management Corporation (State). The judgment in A & A’s favor and against SEFIC on A & A’s third party demand is also part of SEFIC’s appeal.

FACTS

In March of 1982, the State prepared and issued a bid proposal for special multiperil insurance coverage for the Louisiana Su-perdome. An addendum to this proposal was issued on April 5, 1982. The addendum contained additional loss experience information as well as a paragraph which read:

The Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District and H.M.C. Corp., A/T/I/M/A does require by way of a lease agreement each tenant/exhibitor to provide tenants’ liability insurance coverage. The lease agreement which is executed by each tenant/,exhibitor contains a hold harmless clause.

[755]*755A & A submitted the low bid and was awarded the contract, with all coverages to commence on May 17, 1982. A & A secured five insurance companies to provide the actual coverage. The State’s proposal called for $1,000,000.00 comprehensive general liability coverage. In order to secure this coverage, A & A contracted with SEF-IC to provide $500,000.00 worth of primary coverage, and American Home Assurance Company to provide $500,000.00 worth of excess coverage. A & A represented that upon acceptance of the bid, policies would be issued providing the coverage listed under the comprehensive general liability portion of the proposal.

After the State notified A & A that its bid had been accepted, A & A called the various companies and received permission to issue binders, with coverage effective as of May 17, 1982. These binders were sent to the State. On May 24, 1982, SEFIC sent A & A a verification of insurance, certifying that comprehensive general liability insurance was in force as of that date.

SEFIC issued the actual policy of insurance through its agent, Organ & Company, Ltd. This policy was dated June 23, 1982. The policy contained various endorsements, in particular Endorsement 8, which read:

In consideration of the premium changes, it is agreed that all lessees will provide the insured and the company with comprehensive general liability certificates of insurance with limits of not less than $500,000.00 combined single limit and that the insurance provided by the lessee will be primary to the insurance provided for under this policy.

Based on this language, SEFIC determined that it would be responsible only for claims which arose when the Superdome was not being leased, and it denied coverage on claims which arose during a leased event.

SEFIC mailed its policy to A & A shortly after June 23. A & A held the SEFIC policy until it had all policies issued in connection with the March, 1982, bid proposal and then forwarded same to the State.

Even before the State received a copy of the SEFIC policy, a meeting was held between representatives of the Superdome, A & A, and SEFIC to discuss SEFIC’s failure and/or refusal to handle most of the claims submitted to it. After this meeting A & A informed SEFIC that it felt that Endorsement 8 was at variance with what was called for in the bid proposal. After attempting to negotiate its differences with A & A, SEFIC exercised its right to cancel the policy effective December 22,1982, pursuant to the agreement under the bid proposal.1

A & A attempted to obtain the same coverage for the same premium, but was unable to do so. The State let a new bid but the replacement policy carried a higher premium. Coverage for the period from December 22, 1982, to May 17, 1983, cost $29,600.00 more than the SEFIC premium.

The State sued A & A and SEFIC. A & A filed a third party demand against SEF-IC. After trial, the trial court cast A & A for the $29,600.00. SEFIC was cast for $57,212.57, which represented claim settlements, investigative expenses, and penalties and attorney fees as provided for by LSA-R.S. 22:658. Judgment was also granted in favor of A & A on its third party demand against SEFIC in the amount of $29,600.00. It is from this judgment that A & A and SEFIC appeal.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEFIC AND THE STATE

SEFIC’s coverage became effective on May 17, 1982. On June 23,1982, SEFIC issued a policy evidencing its version of what risks were covered. This policy included Endorsement 8. The trial court’s reasons for judgment provided, in this respect, as follows:

It appears that the inclusion of endorsement # 8 and the subsequent denial of claims by Southeastern was an attempt to reform the contract after the [756]*756frequency of claims exceeded their expectations. This is evidenced by the fact that Southeastern had been setting aside reserves on all claims but it was not until September and October or some four months after the policy went into effect that they began to send back these claims and deny coverage. The contention by Southeastern is that the only primary coverage it was to provide was during non events such as tours whereas it afforded excess coverage during events. This is not in line with what was intended by the parties when the contract was bid. Therefore this court finds that endorsement #8 was contrary to the contract between the parties, and therefore an attempted reformation of the contractual agreement.

The evidence adduced at trial supports these findings. In the absence of manifest error, the trial court’s findings of fact will not be disturbed on appeal. Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978).

The next issue is whether SEFIC breached this contract of insurance. The trial court found that SEFIC refused coverage on claims which the contract of insurance obligated it to cover. By September when a claim was filed, SEFIC simply sent it to the liability insurer of the lessee who happened to have occupied the Superdome on the date of the claim. When the lessee’s insurer returned the claim because the liability was the State’s, the State was forced to investigate and handle the claim itself. The trial court found that a policy of liability insurance was in effect from May 17 to December 22, 1982, and that these claims were of the type that SEFIC had agreed to cover under its policy. So SEFIC was liable for said claims. It was not clearly wrong in so finding.

The trial court also found that SEF-IC’s refusal to pay said claims made it liable for penalties and attorney fees under LSA-R.S. 22:658. An insurer must take the risk of misinterpreting its policy provisions. If it errs in interpreting its own insurance contract, such error will not be considered as a reasonable ground for delaying payments of benefits, and it will not relieve the insurer of the payment of penalties and attorney fees. Carney v. American Fire & Indemnity Co., 371 So.2d 815, 819 (La.1979), Gulf-Wandes Corp. v. Vinson Guard Service, 459 So.2d 14 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984), writ denied, 464 So.2d 312 (La.1985). The trial court was not clearly wrong in subjecting SEFIC with the provisions of LSA-R.S. 22:658.

We affirm that portion of the judgment in favor of the State against SEFIC.

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Related

Myers v. Burger King Corp.
618 So. 2d 1123 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1993)
State ex rel. Division of Administration v. Alexander & Alexander Inc.
478 So. 2d 909 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
477 So. 2d 753, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10042, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-division-of-administration-v-alexander-alexander-inc-lactapp-1985.