Warner v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co.

543 So. 2d 511, 1989 WL 35206
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 13, 1989
Docket88-CA-2250
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 543 So. 2d 511 (Warner v. Liberty Mut. Fire 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
Warner v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 543 So. 2d 511, 1989 WL 35206 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

543 So.2d 511 (1989)

Marcia Green, Wife of and Arthur Lee WARNER
v.
LIBERTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 88-CA-2250.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

April 13, 1989.
Rehearing Denied June 14, 1989.

*512 William M. Lucas, Jr. (A.C.), Joyce M. Dombourian, Sharon Cormack Mize, Sessions Fishman, Boisfontaine, Nathan, Winn, Butler & Barkely, New Orleans, for plaintiffs-appellees.

Kenny M. Charbonnet, William V. Renaudin, Jr., Metairie, for defendant-appellant.

Before BARRY, LOBRANO and WILLIAMS, JJ.

WILLIAMS, Judge.

Defendant, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, brought this appeal after the trial court disregarded the decision of the jury pertaining to statutory penalties and attorney's fees under LSA-R.S. 22:658 *513 and granted plaintiffs', Marcia Green and Arthur L. Warners', Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict awarding them ten percent (10%) of $44,387.88 as penalties and $9,000.00 as attorney's fees. Plaintiffs have answered the appeal, asking for an increase in atttorney's fees for trial level services, additional attorney's fees for the handling of this appeal, court costs and compensatory damages. After reviewing the record, we affirm the trial court's Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict awarding penalties and attorney's fees because the jury's finding was contrary to the law and the evidence. After Liberty Mutual made its own estimate of structural damages ($20,000.00), its failure to unconditionally tender within the statutory sixty-day period the undisputed portion of structural damages ($20,000.00) and then litigate the contested portion, subjects the insurer to the penalty provisions of LSA-R.S. 22:658. Additionally, we find that the amount set as trial level attorney's fees is neither excessive nor inadequate; the plaintiffs are entitled to attorney's fees for defending this appeal in the amount of $2,000.00; and the plaintiffs' claim for compensatory damages is denied.

FACTS

The home of Marcia G. and Arthur L. Warner and their two children (Warners) was partially destroyed by fire on November 11, 1986, rendering it uninhabitable. The day after the fire, Christopher Broccato, the property claims adjuster for Liberty Mutual examined the scene of the fire to obtain a preview of the necessary repairs and to determine the needs of the Warners. Liberty Mutual then gave the Warners a $5,000.00 advance pursuant to the additional living expenses clause of their policy.[1]

On November 20, 1986, Liberty Mutual dispatched Scott Mullideaux, a self employed contractor who had done a number of estimates for Liberty Mutual over the previous year and one-half, to estimate the construction cost of restoring the Warner home to its former condition. Mullideaux visited the Warners' home on two or three occasions, sometimes bringing along sub-contractors to assist him with his estimate of the structural loss. By the end of November, Mullideaux had formed his estimate for Liberty Mutual, that it would cost $20,606.70 to restore the Warner home to its former condition.

Because the Warners' insurance policy also contained provisions for the replacement of personal property, three or four days after the fire the Warners submitted to Liberty Mutual a handwritten copy of their itemized personal property losses. This handwritten itemization was not considered by Liberty Mutual to be proof of loss, however, so the insurer mailed the Warners a proof of loss claim form on November 17, 1986. As this form was never returned to Liberty Mutual, Liberty Mutual has maintained that it never received satisfactory proof of loss. Nevertheless, when Liberty Mutual eventually paid the Warners' personal property claim on June 12, 1987, the amount of the settlement was based upon the Warners' original handwritten documentation, submitted in mid November, 1986.

In November and/or December of 1986, when Broccato as Liberty Mutual's representative, orally offered the Warners $20,000.00 "as settlement on the property damage", the Warners informed Broccato that the $20,000.00 estimate was not acceptable to them. At trial, Broccato testified that if the Warners had accepted the $20,000.00 offer, he would have understood their action to mean they were closing their claims on the property damage to the house.[2] Broccato also testified that when the Warners asked him what their options were, he only informed them about arbitration. He told them that they could get their own estimates and then have their dispute over the amount of the loss settled by an arbitrator.

*514 The Warners were not told that they had the option of accepting the $20,000.00 offer and then arbitrating or litigating the disputed portion of the structural property loss claim.

Thereafter, the Warners had two independent estimates made of their structural property loss, one by Gilbert J. Blanchard ($33,750.00) on December 1, 1986 and the second by Eddie Walker ($39,353.53) on January 20, 1987. These bids and/or estimates were forwarded to Liberty Mutual as they were obtained, approximately ten days after these specified dates. The Warners also consulted legal counsel and in January, 1987 before the delay period provided by LSA-R.S. 22:658 had expired, the Warners filed this suit.

Because of this dispute and because there was a question as to whether the Warners' attic framing had to be replaced, Liberty Mutual dispatched one of its claims technical specialists, Don Ables, to the Warners' home on March 20, 1987 to make a second estimate on the Warners' structural damage. Ables' estimated that it would cost $29,162.33 to restore the Warners' home to its former condition. At trial, Ables explained that the reason for the cost differential between his estimates and those of the plaintiffs' contractors was in part due to his determination that the ceiling should be painted and the carpets shampooed rather than be replaced and that only 2,000 square feet of sheeting and decking was needed rather than 4,400 square feet.

Approximately two and one-half months after Ables completed his estimate and seven months after the completion of Mulledeaux's estimate Liberty Mutual tendered a check to the Warners in the amount of $44,387.88. The check tendered on June 12, 1987 covered property losses for structural damages in the amount of $29,162.33 (Ables' estimate), as well as additional living expenses and personal property losses. The Warners, however, did not endorse the check until July 3, 1987, when they received Liberty Mutual's letter verifying that the check represented an unconditional tender. Despite this tender, the Warners continued this suit, claiming attorney's fees, penalties, and additional compensation for the structural damages to their home, for their personal property losses and for their additional living expenses.

Trial commenced on January 19, 1988. After the three day trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of defendant, Liberty Mutual, and the court adopted the verdict of the jury. Accordingly, the plaintiffs' suit was dismissed and the plaintiffs were assessed with all costs and expert fees. Plaintiffs then filed a Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict and a Motion for New Trial, asserting their entitlement to recover penalties and attorney's fees under LSA-R.S. 22:658. After a contradictory hearing, the trial judge denied the plaintiffs' Motion for New Trial and granted their Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict on April 15, 1988, ordering judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against defendant in the amount of $4,438.79 for penalties and $9,000.00 for attorney's fees.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
543 So. 2d 511, 1989 WL 35206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warner-v-liberty-mut-fire-ins-co-lactapp-1989.