Ward v. Usagencies Casualty Insurance

130 So. 3d 1029, 2014 WL 131074, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 67
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 15, 2014
DocketNo. 48,758-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 130 So. 3d 1029 (Ward v. Usagencies Casualty Insurance) 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
Ward v. Usagencies Casualty Insurance, 130 So. 3d 1029, 2014 WL 131074, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 67 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

CARAWAY, J.

11 This appeal arises from a dispute concerning the insurer’s refusal to pay collision coverage and liability coverage for property damage caused by the plaintiff insured. The insurer contends that plaintiff failed to renew her automobile insurance policy eight days before her accident. Plaintiff claims that the insurer was negligent in procuring renewal insurance from her and that she was confused concerning a premium payment she had made for her [1030]*1030new vehicle recently added to the policy. After a trial in district court, plaintiff was awarded damages in the amount of $27,589 for the loss of her vehicle and $11,000 for liability payments. It is from this judgment that the insurer appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Facts and Procedural Background

On April 18, 2010, Connie Ward (“Ward”) was driving her new Nissan Alti-ma on Interstate 20 when she sideswiped a car parked on the shoulder of the road. After the accident, Ward made a claim on her insurance policy -with USAgencies Casualty Insurance Company (“USAgen-cies”). Ward received a letter, dated April 22, 2010, that informed her that the effective period for her policy was from October 9, 2010, to April 10, 2010. For this reason, the letter stated that USAgencies would not provide coverage for the April 18 accident. According to USAgencies, the reason for the policy ending on April 10, 2010, was that Ward had failed to renew her policy.

This suit centers around the events that transpired when Ward purchased her Nissan Altima in late March of 2010 at the time that her | ¡¿insurance policy approached its renewal date. Ward had purchased a policy of liability insurance from USAgencies on October 9, 2009. The policy #4763929 covered liability only and applied to a 2005 Cadillac and a 2002 Saturn. Ward paid the entire premium for the 6-month policy in October 2009. The price she paid for the liability insurance on both vehicles was $501.

On March 5, 2010, USAgencies sent Ward an “OFFER TO RENEW.” The letter notified Ward that the policy would expire on April 10, 2010, at 12:01 a.m. The letter informed her that the policy would expire unless she were to pay the entire premium of $447 or make an initial payment of $134.19 and finance the remainder of the policy premium allowing her to pay $73.03 per month for five months. The offer stated that she must complete and return an enclosed premium finance agreement with any down payment. It further stated, “If we do not receive the completed Premium Finance Agreement with your down payment, you will be required to pay the entire policy premium immediately or your policy will cancel for nonpayment of premiums.”

Ward took no action regarding the renewal offer. Ward initially denied ever receiving the renewal offer, but when pressed on the issue in her testimony, she admitted that she provided it to her attorney after the accident.

On March 25, 2010, Ward traded in her Cadillac for the Nissan Altima. In order to obtain financing, Ward was required to insure the car with collision and comprehensive coverage prior to leaving the dealership. While at the dealership, Ward placed a call with the 1-800 number |3for USAgencies to insure the new Nissan Alti-ma. Ward obtained insurance over the phone for the Nissan Altima with an unknown insurance agent. In placing the insurance, the agent had made an endorsement on the existing policy to replace the Cadillac with the Nissan Altima. Increased policy coverage was included for comprehensive and collision coverage only for the Nissan Altima.

USAgencies introduced at trial a new, amended declarations page for the policy which reflects that the premium for insurance on the Nissan alone for the full 6-month period beginning October 9, 2009, would have been $1,273. However, the declarations page reflected for the remaining coverage period from March 25 to April 10, a prorated premium of $102 was due. The declarations page also showed that the 2002 Saturn remained covered for [1031]*1031liability insurance under the policy. The declarations page stated that the policy changes were processed on March 25, 2010, at 12:03 p.m. Ward paid the prorated premium amount of $102 at that time.

Regarding the conversation with the USAgencies agent, Ward testified that she believed that she was obtaining a new insurance policy on the Nissan Altima, rather than adding it to the existing policy. She testified that she intended to obtain insurance beyond April 10, 2010. However, she also testified that she thought she was getting the same insurance that she had on the Cadillac, which she mistakenly thought was fully covered for liability and comprehensive coverage. She believed that the $102 payment was a monthly payment for the new coverage, and she believed that so long as she continued to make these payments, she would continue to have insurance.

|4Ward asked the USAgencies personnel to fax documentation of the policy to her workplace. She also testified that she might have asked the company to send documentation to the dealer. A USAgen-cies receipt was faxed on March 25, 2010, at 12:07 p.m. to an unknown location from an unknown location. The receipt shows a payment of $102 for policy #4763929 issued to Connie Ward with an expiration date of April 10, 2010. Ward testified that she would have read this receipt. Also faxed to an unknown location from an unknown location on March 25, 2010, at 12:07 p.m., were insurance identification cards, one of which was for the Nissan Altima. The insurance card also states that the policy expires on April 10, 2010. At the time of the accident, Ward did not have this insurance card in her vehicle.

Pegg Shoemaker, a USAgencies underwriting analyst, was the only defense witness testifying at the trial. She stated that when a car is added to an insurance policy, and when greater coverage is added, a premium is due immediately. In Ward’s case, the amount was $92 plus a $10 agency fee for the remainder of her policy period. She testified that the declarations page for the amended policy and the insurance cards would have been sent to Ward. She testified that the same documents would have been sent to the dealer as well so that they would know that the vehicle is insured prior to its leaving the lot. Shoemaker also testified that in Ward’s case, a new policy was not issued. Rather, only an endorsement was made to add the Nissan Altima to the existing policy. When asked whether USAgencies has a general policy of obtaining renewals, she stated that it did. However, she testified that the agent is expected to take payment only for the transaction |Bthat they are doing at the time, which was an endorsement here to add the Nissan to the existing policy. She stated that an endorsement can be done only for the current term of the policy. When asked whether the agent on the phone would have had access to all of Ward’s policy information’ when adding the Nissan Altima to the policy, Shoemaker confirmed that the agent would have that information. She stated that the information regarding the policy’s expiration on April 10, 2010, would be readily available.

Finally, Ward never received an offer to renew the policy after the addition of the coverage for the Nissan Altima. Both Ward and Shoemaker testified that no such renewal offer was ever sent. The renewal offer that Ward received would have pertained to the Cadillac and the Saturn as set forth in the March 5, 2010 notice.

Ward sued USAgencies on February 4, 2011.

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

Related

Ray v. Associated Indem. Corp.
373 So. 2d 166 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 So. 3d 1029, 2014 WL 131074, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ward-v-usagencies-casualty-insurance-lactapp-2014.