Wagner v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America

209 P.3d 1119, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 1928
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 13, 2008
DocketNo. 07CA2112
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 209 P.3d 1119 (Wagner v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wagner v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, 209 P.3d 1119, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 1928 (Colo. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge ROY.

Plaintiff, Douglas Wagner (Wagner), individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, appeals the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Travelers Property Casualty Company of America (Travelers) on all of his claims. We vacate the judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Summary

The issue presented for review, as framed by Wagner, is as follows: *

Whether Travelers is exempt from the duty to disclose to its customers truthful information about the seope of [UM/UIM] insurance coverage and to deal fairly with them, solely because [Travelers] requires its customers to purchase UM/UIM insurance on all of their insured vehicles or on none of those vehicles.

Wagner contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on his claim that Travelers had an obligation to advise him upon the renewal of his multi-vehicle policy of the implications of DeHerrera v. Sentry Insurance Co., 30 P.3d 167 (Colo.2001) and Jaimes v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 53 P.3d 748 (Colo.App.2002). DeHerrero held that uninsured and underinsured (UM/UIM) coverages insure and, therefore, follow the insured and not the vehicle; Jaimes held that the "owned but not insured" (OBNT) exclusion was void. Following DeHerrera and Jaimes, Travelers continued to charge, or to indicate that it charged, premiums for UM/UIM coverage by the vehicle, and its policy continued to include an OBNI exclusion. However, according to Wagner, under DeHerrerg insuring one vehicle provided him and his resident family with UM/UIM coverage in any vehicle, owned or nonowned, insured or not insured.

The trial court granted summary judgment to Travelers on its argument that, because it issued only multi-vehicle polices and did not offer the customers the option to insure less than all of their vehicles with UM/UIM coverage, no additional disclosure was required. The court addressed only a duty to disclose under section 10-4-609, C.R.S.2008.

We conclude that section 10-4-609 does not require Travelers to advise Wagner of the implications of either DeHerrerg or Jaimes. However, we further conclude that there is a genuine question of material fact as to whether a reasonable consumer could believe that Travelers sold UM/UIM coverage on a vehicle basis rather than a policy basis, as it contends, and thus, purchasing UM/UIM coverage on all vehicles was necessary to protect the named insured(s) and residential family members. Finally, we conclude that any further proceedings must address all of Wagner's claims separately, and summary judgment on those claims predicated on sources of duty other than section 10-4-609 is not appropriate on the present record.

IL The Facts

Wagner purchased motor vehicle insurance including liability and UM/UIM coverage on two vehicles in one multi-vehicle policy from Travelers. Only the UM/UIM coverage is at issue here.

The policy listed Wagner as the named insured and also insured two classes of unnamed insureds. The policy charged a separate and identified premium for each coverage (liability, comprehensive, collision, uninsured motorist, and personal injury protection). The pertinent part of the declaration page appeared as follows:

4. Coverages, Limits of Liability and Premiums Insurance is provided only where a premium is shown for the coverage.
[1122]*11221 2 95 PLYM 97 FORD GRAND EXPLORER VOYA A
A - Bodily Injury $100,000 each person
$300,000 each accident ges $103
B - Property Damage $50,000 each accident 36 57
D1 - Uninsured Motorists $100,000 each person $800,000 each accident See Endorsement AOSo15 80 81
E - Collision Actual Cash Value less $200 deductible T2 47
F - Comprehensive (Other than Collision) Actual Cash Value less $100 deductible 67 144
I - Towing and Labor Costs $25 per disablement 2 2
Q - Personal Injury Protection $50,000 per person per accident See Endorsement A05026 40 89

(Emphasis added.)

The policy also contained an OBNTI exclusion applicable to the UM/UIM coverage which provided:

A. We do not provide Uninsured Motorists Coverage for "bodily injury" sustained by any person:
1. While "occupying," or when struck by, any motor vehicle owned by you or any "family member" which is not insured for this coverage under this policy. This includes a trailer of any type used with that vehicle.

The policy insured two classes of insureds-Class one included the named insured and any other person related to the named insured by blood, marriage, or adoption, including a ward or foster child, who was a resident of the named insured's household, or temporarily living elsewhere; Class two included any other person occupying a covered vehicle with the consent of the named insured or a pedestrian if the accident involved the covered auto. If a customer purchased UM/UIM coverage on one vehicle, only Class one was insured. However, upon insuring the second vehicle both classes were insured.

This litigation commenced in 2003 as a class action with twenty-seven plaintiffs against twenty-five insurance companies. The case was, however, subsequently broken up into twenty-seven very similar individual class actions in 2006. The class has not yet been certified pursuant to C.R.C.P. 28.

Wagner asserted claims for (1) fraudulent concealment; (2) negligent misrepresentation by omission; (8) unjust enrichment; (4) bad faith; (5) violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act; and (6) declaratory judgment. The relief sought was compensatory damages together with punitive damages, treble damages, and attorney fees permitted by law, depending on the claim.

The central allegation to each claim, with minor variations appropriate to each claim, is that Travelers had a duty to, but did not, advise Wagner on the implications of De-Herrera and Jaimes when renewing the UM/ UIM coverage. In addition, Travelers continued to include the OBNI exclusion in its policies although it was invalid after Jaimes.

III,. The Legal Environment

UM/UIM coverage in Colorado is controlled by section 10-4-609, C.R.S.2008. While the statute has been amended during the pertinent period, it has substantively remained the same for our limited purpose. It currently provides:

§ 10-4-609. Insurance protection against uninsured motorists-applicability.
(1)(a) No automobile liability or motor vehicle liability policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death suffered by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any motor vehicle licensed for highway use in this state unless coverage is provided ...

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Related

Wagner v. TRAVEL. PROP. CAS. CO. OF AMERICA
209 P.3d 1119 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
209 P.3d 1119, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 1928, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wagner-v-travelers-property-casualty-co-of-america-coloctapp-2008.