Williams v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

195 P.3d 1158, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 1388, 2008 WL 4330255
Colorado Court of Appeals·Decided September 18, 2008·No. 07CA1667·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge ROMAN.

Plaintiffs, Priscilla Williams and her two minor children, appeal the trial court's summary judgment in favor of defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). We affirm.

According to the parties' stipulated statement of facts, on August 10, 20083, gunshots were fired into a vehicle occupied by plaintiffs. One of plaintiffs' family members (the victim)-a fourth passenger in the vehicle was struck by one or more bullets. Plaintiffs were not physically injured, but alleged "psychological/ psychiatric and/or emotional injuries." Four men were convicted of the shooting. The shooters did not have insurance.

Plaintiffs were insured under a policy issued by State Farm. The policy included uninsured motorist (UM) coverage with limits in the amounts of $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each occurrence.

The policy provides:

Under 'Each Person' is the amount of coverage for all damages due to bodily injury to one person. 'Bodily injury to one person' includes all injury and damages to others resulting from this bodily injury, and all emotional distress resulting from this bodily injury sustained by other persons who do not sustain bodily injury.

*1160 State Farm paid plaintiffs $100,000-the policy limit for each person-based on the victim's gunshot injuries and plaintiffs' resulting emotional injuries. Plaintiffs filed suit, demanding an additional $200,000 in UM benefits for emotional distress.

Both parties moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm, finding that plaintiffs' injuries were derivative of the vie-tim's injuries and therefore included in the $100,000 per person limit.

I. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings and supporting documentation demonstrate that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See C.R.CP. 56(c) Churchey v. Adolph Coors Co., 759 P.2d 1336 (Colo.1988). We review the grant of a summary judgment motion de novo and apply the same standards that govern the trial court's determination. Woodward v. Bd. of Dirs. of Tamarron Ass'n of Condo. Owners, Inc., 155 P.3d 621, 623 (Colo.App.2007).

IL. Derivative vs. Non—Defivatifie Claims

Plaintiffs contend the trial court erred in determining that their claims for emotional distress are derivative of the vietim's bodily injury claim. We agree.

"'Derivative noneconomic loss or injury' means nonpecuniary harm or emotional stress to persons other than the person suffering the direct or primary loss or injury." § 18-21-102.5(2)(a), C.R.98.2007. "Claims for derivative damages turn upon the right of the injured person to recover...." Elgin v. Bartlett, 994 P.2d 411, 416 (Colo.1999). In general, insurance benefits are available for derivative damages, including those that are the "consequences or results of the injuries the insured sustained." Wieprzkowski v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 976 P.2d 891, 893 (Colo.App.1999).

However, an insured's claim for damages resulting from his or her own direct injuries is not derivative, but is a separate and distinct claim. See Wieprzkowski, 976 P.2d at 893; see also Swan v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 140 P.3d 261, 265 (Colo.App.2006)(wrongful death and loss of consortium are separate, rather than derivative claims); State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Lawrence, 26 P.3d 1074, 1079 (Alaska 2001)("claims for emotional distress concern injuries that the claimants have suffered directly, rather than derivative injuries that resulted from an injury to another").

Here, plaintiffs assert claims for emotional distress based on fear for their own safety during the shooting. These claims are not dependent on the victim's right to recover for his injuries, nor are they resulting from the victim's injuries Thus, they are non-derivative, separate claims. See Elgin, 994 P.2d at 416; Wieprzkowski, 976 P.2d at 893.

III. Colorado's UM Statute

Although the trial court erred in conelud-ing plaintiffs' emotional distress claims were derivative, we nonetheless affirm the trial court's summary judgment because we conclude that Colorado law does not require an insurer to provide benefits for purely emotional harm. In so concluding, we reject plaintiffs' contentions that (1) the term "sickness" in § 10-4-609(1)(a), C.R.S.2007, requires an insurer to provide coverage for emotional distress damages; and (2) to the extent the insurance policy limits such damages, it violates public policy and is void.

When interpreting statutes, we give full effect to the intent of the General Assembly. To determine that intent, we look first to the statutory language. O'Donnell v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 186 P.3d 46, 49-50 (Colo.2008); see Farmers Ins. Exch. v. Star, 952 P.2d 809, 811 (Colo.App.1997). The interpretation of a statute is a question of law that we review de novo. Richardson v. Farmers Ins. Exch, 101 P.3d 1138, 1140 (Colo.App.2004).

An insurance policy or a provision in the policy may be void as against public policy if it attempts to "dilute, condition, or limit statutorily mandated coverage." DeHerrera v. Sentry Ins. Co., 30 P.3d 167, 173 (Colo.2001) (quoting Terranova v. State *1161 Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 800 P.2d 58, 60 (Colo.1990)).

Plaintiffs assert that the State Farm policy violates section 10-4-609 because it dilutes, conditions, or limits statutorily mandated coverage by limiting emotional damages for all claimants to the lower per person policy limit.

Section 10-4-609(1)(a) provides:

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

Williams v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 195 P.3d 1158, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 1388, 2008 WL 4330255 (Colo. Ct. App. 2008).

195 P.3d 1158 (Williams v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Town of Breckenridge v. Egencia, LLC
2018 COA 8 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2018)
Rivera v. American Family Insurance Group
2012 COA 175 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2012)
Draper v. DeFrenchi-Gordineer
282 P.3d 489 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2011)
Newflower Market, Inc. v. Cook
229 P.3d 1058 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2010)
Waste Management of Colorado, Inc. v. City of Commerce City
250 P.3d 722 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2010)
Silver v. Colorado Casualty Insurance Co.
219 P.3d 324 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2009)