Tibbals v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

370 N.W.2d 679, 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 4343
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 2, 1985
DocketC5-85-238
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 370 N.W.2d 679 (Tibbals v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tibbals v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 370 N.W.2d 679, 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 4343 (Mich. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinions

OPINION

HUSPENI, Judge.

Appellant Eleanor Tibbals brought this action against respondent State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm) for a reformation of her State Farm insurance policies. Tibbals sought to reform the insurance policies by adding residual liability and underinsured motorist coverage on the ground that State Farm failed to offer this coverage as required under Minn.Stat. § 65B.49, subd. 6 (1978) (repealed 1980). After a three-day trial, a jury found that State Farm had made a meaningful offer of underinsured motorist and residual liability coverage to Tibbals. This is an appeal from an order denying Tibbals’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, a new trial. We affirm.

FACTS

In 1979, Tibbals was struck by a car and she anticipates her injuries will exceed the value of the other party’s insurance coverage. At the time of the accident, Tibbals owned two vehicles which were insured under separate policies issued by State Farm. Each policy had the statutorily-minimum liability coverage ($25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence). No underin-sured motorist coverage was included in either policy.

Evidence introduced at trial indicates that Tibbals’ first contact with State Farm was in December 1977. At that time, David Stonedale, a now-deceased agent for State Farm, issued an insurance policy on one of Tibbals’ cars. Tibbals testified at trial that she did not recall whether Stone-dale offered her additional residual liability coverage during that transaction. She was certain, however, that he did not talk to her about underinsured motorist coverage.

Tibbals let this insurance policy lapse between June 1978 and August 1978. In August 1978, her former husband, Kerry Tibbals, reapplied through Stonedale for State Farm insurance on the same vehicle. Acting as Eleanor’s agent, he signed her name on the application.

In January 1979, Kerry Tibbals applied through Stonedale for a State Farm insurance policy covering Eleanor’s other car. Eleanor testified at trial that she did ask Kerry to purchase the insurance, but the signature on the January 1979 application was not Kerry’s.

Kerry Tibbals was unable to testify at trial due to an illness which has caused memory loss. The parties stipulated that if Kerry had been able to testify, he would have testified that he reapplied for the insurance in August 1978 and he signed that application. He also would have testified that he applied for insurance in January 1979, but he would have given no testimony about the signature on that application. With respect to both transactions, he would have testified that he could not re[681]*681call whether he and Stonedale discussed liability limits or under-insured motorist coverage, but that he is aware that liability limits and underinsured motorist coverage are generally discussed.

All three insurance applications provided spaces for an applicant to select higher liability limits and underinsured coverage. These spaces were blank on all three applications.

At trial, Stonedale’s supervisor Rollin Hall testified that he instructed Stonedale and his other agents on the standard practice and procedure for issuing State Farm insurance. This standard practice included offering an applicant underinsured motorist coverage and liability insurance above the statutory minimum. During the period when offers of residual liability and under-insured motorist coverage were mandatory, Hall testified that he observed between one and ten of Stonedale’s presentations. Hall never testified that he actually observed Stonedale or any of his other agents make the mandatory offers to an applicant.

ISSUES

1. Did the trial court err in admitting testimony of insurance agents’ standard practice when the testimony was not based on personal observation?

2. Was there sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that the insurer adequately offered residual liability and underinsured motorist coverage to the insured?

ANALYSIS

I.

Initially, Tibbals argues that the trial court erred in admitting Hall’s testimony about the standard practice of his agents (including Stonedale). Hall testified that he trained his agents to make the mandatory offers of residual liability and underin-sured motorist coverage and that his agents’ standard practice was to make the mandatory offers. We do not find that the trial court erred in admitting this testimony. Hall did not testify that he personally observed Stonedale or any of his other agents make the mandatory offers to their clients. The “standard practice” evidence, however, was still relevant and it offered support to State Farm’s claim that Stone-dale made the mandatory offers to Eleanor or Kerry Tibbals. See, e.g., Yeager v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co., 335 N.W.2d 733, 735 (Minn.1983); Kuchenmeister v. Ill. Farmers Ins. Co., 310 N.W.2d 86, 88 (Minn.1981).

II.

Tibbals next contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s finding that State Farm made the statutorily-required offers to Eleanor or Kerry Tib-bals. We find that the evidence was sufficient.

The now repealed mandatory optional coverages provisions of Minn.Stat. § 65B.49, subd. 6 (1978) (repealed 1980) required insurers to offer their insureds certain optional coverages including residual liability and underinsured motorist coverage. The mandatory offer must be meaningful and give the insured enough information to make “an intelligent decision.” League General Insurance Co. v. Tvedt, 317 N.W.2d 40, 42 (Minn.1982). The insurer, not the insured, has the burden of proving that it made the mandatory offer of coverages. Holman v. All Nation Insurance Co., 288 N.W.2d 244, 248 (Minn.1980).

An offer of optional coverage is meaningful if it satisfies the four concerns articulated in Hastings v. United Pacific Insurance Co., 318 N.W.2d 849, 851-53 (Minn.1982). The “four concerns” are:

(1) that the notification be commercially reasonable; (2) that the insurer specify the limits of optional coverage and not merely offer additional coverage in general terms; (3) that the insurer intelligibly advise the insured of the nature of the optional coverage; and (4) that the insured be apprised that optional coverages are available for a relatively modest increase in premiums.

[682]*682Randall v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 335 N.W.2d 247, 249 n. 3 (Minn.1983). See also Maher v. All Nation Insurance Co., 340 N.W.2d 675, 678 (Minn.Ct.App.1983).

State Farm is only required to show that it made one “meaningful” offer of residual liability and underinsured motorist coverage to Tibbals. Randall, 335 N.W.2d at 250.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Steinhaus
400 N.W.2d 169 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)
Makela v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
497 N.E.2d 483 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1986)
Tibbals v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.
370 N.W.2d 679 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
370 N.W.2d 679, 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 4343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tibbals-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-minnctapp-1985.