Theriot v. Commercial Union Ins. Co.

478 So. 2d 741, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10146
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 1985
Docket84-845
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 478 So. 2d 741 (Theriot v. Commercial Union Ins. 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
Theriot v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 478 So. 2d 741, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10146 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

478 So.2d 741 (1985)

Joseph Leslie THERIOT, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
COMMERCIAL UNION INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 84-845.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

November 7, 1985.

*742 Brame, Bergstedt and Brame, David B. McCain, Lake Charles, for defendant-appellant.

Jones, Jones and Alexander, Jennifer Jones Bercier, Cameron, for plaintiff-appellee.

Cox, Cox, Townsley and Fowler, Wm. N. Cox, Lake Charles, for defendant-appellee.

Before GUIDRY, STOKER and KING, JJ.

GUIDRY, Judge.

Joseph Leslie Theriot brought suit against his insurer, Commercial Union Insurance Company (hereafter referred to as Commercial Union), and Jack's Auto Parts and Salvage, Inc. (hereafter referred to as Jack's). The plaintiff's action against his insurer was contractual; his action against Jack's was premised on the theory of redhibition. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant, Commercial Union Insurance Company, in the sum of $2,668.00 plus costs and interest from May 6, 1983. The amount awarded included the estimated cost to repair the plaintiff's engine plus a storage fee of $868.00. Attorney's fees and penalties against the insurance company were rejected. Plaintiff's demand against Jack's was rejected and dismissed. Costs of the proceedings were assessed to Commercial Union.

*743 Commercial Union suspensively appealed. Neither plaintiff nor Jack's appealed or answered Commercial Union's appeal.

FACTS

Plaintiff, Joseph Leslie Theriot, was the owner of a 1979 Ford LTD automobile. He carried auto insurance with defendant, Commercial Union.

Sometime during the fall of 1982, the engine in the LTD malfunctioned in such a way that suggested vandalism. The engine was damaged as a result of lubrication failure which was apparently caused by the introduction of some foreign substance. When the plaintiff became aware of a possible engine problem, he brought the car to Donald Kelley, a mechanic for Shoreline Supply Company of Cameron, Louisiana (hereafter referred to as Shoreline). Kelley was of the opinion that the engine had been vandalized by the introduction of some sort of foreign substance into the engine oil.

Plaintiff then filed a claim with his insurer, Commercial Union. Commercial Union did not contest the claim of vandalism. Instead, Commercial Union hired Crawford and Company to appraise and settle the claim. Mr. Morris Ledet, employed by Crawford, was assigned the task.

After Ledet made a cursory inspection of the engine, he prepared an appraisal report. The appraisal report, and Ledet's later testimony, indicates that he contacted Jack's to obtain a price on a replacement engine and contacted Shoreline to obtain an estimate on the labor costs for installation.

Ledet later had a check issued by Commercial Union to the plaintiff for the exact amount of the particular engine to be purchased from Jack's plus installation costs, as per Shoreline's estimate. The plaintiff apparently endorsed the check he received from Commercial Union over to Shoreline so that Shoreline could obtain the replacement engine from Jack's. The invoice from Jack's was introduced into evidence. It does not show the purchaser to be the plaintiff, but instead shows the purchaser to be Shoreline Supply. However, the plaintiff testified that Ledet made all the arrangements for the purchase of the replacement engine. Also, plaintiff's wife testified, "Well, he (Ledet) purchased the engine. We didn't. Once he had the engine purchased, they contacted us. And then my husband picked up the check at the insurance company here, and went and brought it, turned it over to Donald Kelley (the Shoreline mechanic) and they picked up the engine from Jack's."

The installation of the replacement engine did not solve the plaintiff's problem. The new engine likewise malfunctioned. Donald Kelley, the mechanic from Shoreline, testified that he closely inspected the replacement engine, prior to installation in plaintiff's automobile, and determined that it was in worse condition than the original. He told his employer and Ledet of the situation but was instructed by them to proceed with the installation.

After the engine was replaced, the car started to burn oil at a rate which was indicative of a serious problem. It was installed in November of 1982 and spent a great amount of time in the shop between then and April of the following year, at which time the engine completely failed. It was conceded that the replacement engine was in a ruined state.

The plaintiff then demanded of Commercial Union and Jack's the sum of $1800.00, i.e., the amount of the repair estimate Donald Kelley gave to the plaintiff for a second replacement. Both defendants refused to comply. This suit followed.

In written reasons for judgment, the trial court determined that the replacement engine was redhibitorily defective. However, he denied plaintiff judgment against Jack's, concluding that plaintiff was not the purchaser of the engine and consequently had no right to claim redhibition against the seller, Jack's. The trial court further concluded that Commercial Union "elected to repair" the vehicle rather than to settle the claim by payment; its repair efforts were totally unsatisfactory; and, because of the insurer's breach of its obligation to repair, *744 plaintiff was entitled to recover the repair costs plus automobile storage charges. Judgment was rendered as aforestated.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in its conclusions that (1) Commercial Union "elected to repair" rather than make payment in settlement of plaintiff's claim; (2) Commercial Union was the purchaser of the defective engine; (3) plaintiff did not have a right of action in redhibition against Jack's; and, (4) in awarding storage fees since plaintiff did not pray for same and timely objection was made to such evidence during trial. We will discuss appellant's contentions in the order set forth above.

DID COMMERCIAL UNION "ELECT TO REPAIR" AND IN FURTHERANCE OF THAT ELECTION PURCHASE THE REPLACEMENT ENGINE?

Commercial Union contends that, under the insurance policy, it elected to pay the claim made by the plaintiff. Plaintiff contends that Commercial Union elected to purchase the replacement engine and have the car repaired.

The Commercial Union insurance policy which covered the plaintiff's automobile states, in pertinent part:

"The company may PAY for the loss in money; or may REPAIR or REPLACE the damaged or stolen property ..." (Emphasis supplied).
The policy also stated:
"The limit of the Company's liability for loss shall not exceed the actual cash value of the property, ..., nor what it would then cost to REPAIR or REPLACE the property, or such part thereof with another of LIKE KIND and QUALITY ..." (Emphasis supplied).

If Commercial Union elected to repair the vehicle, then it had a duty to make the repairs with like kind and quality parts. The trial court found that Commercial Union intended to replace the damaged property rather than pay for the loss in money. A trial court's finding of fact will not be altered unless it can be shown from the evidence and testimony that the trial court was clearly wrong. The trial judge has a significant advantage in making factual determinations since he is able to hear the testimony, examine the documentary evidence, and observe the demeanor of the witnesses.

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Bluebook (online)
478 So. 2d 741, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/theriot-v-commercial-union-ins-co-lactapp-1985.