Withers v. Worldwide Insurance Brokers, Inc.

500 So. 2d 914, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 8448
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 9, 1987
DocketNo. 85-1179
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 500 So. 2d 914 (Withers v. Worldwide Insurance Brokers, Inc.) 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
Withers v. Worldwide Insurance Brokers, Inc., 500 So. 2d 914, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 8448 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinions

DOUCET, Judge.

Plaintiff, David Withers, instituted this suit to recover insurance benefits in the wake of the loss of his home and other property in a fire. Made defendants therein were Worldwide Insurance Brokers, Inc., Mt. Hawley Insurance Company, Rhodes Insurance Industries Agency, Inc., and Insured Lloyds Insurance Company.1 Rhodes filed a third party demand against Worldwide.2 Insured Lloyds filed third party demands against Worldwide, Mt. Hawley, Rhodes, and Evanston Insurance Company.

After trial on the merits, the district court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff and against the defendants, Worldwide, Mt. Hawley, Rhodes, Evanston, and Insured Lloyds, in solido. Judgment was further rendered in favor of third party plaintiffs, Rhodes, Evanston, and Insured Lloyds against third party defendants, Worldwide and Mt. Hawley.3 Worldwide, Mt. Hawley, Insured Lloyds, Rhodes, and Evanston appeal.

In August 1983, plaintiff contacted the Thomas Insurance Agency in Natchitoches concerning the possibility of obtaining homeowner’s insurance for his residence in Robeline. Thomas forwarded an application to Worldwide Insurance Brokers, Inc. Worldwide processed the application and forwarded it to Rhodes Insurance Industries Agency, Inc., the managing general agency representing Insured Lloyds Insurance Company. Rhodes accepted plaintiff’s application and issued a policy binding Insured Lloyds to insure plaintiff’s residence and possessions. The policy provided coverage from August 1, 1983 to August 1, 1984.

During the month of October 1983, Rhodes attempted to cancel 252 homeowners’ policies, including plaintiff’s.

Plaintiff received his notice of cancellation and contacted his local agency, Thomas. The attempted cancellation was brought to the attention of the Louisiana Insurance Department which notified Rhodes that such a “mass cancellation” was against public policy and would not be allowed.

Rhodes then decided it would “reinstate” all but fourteen of the policies which it [916]*916could cancel as bad underwriting risks. Plaintiff’s policy was among those fourteen. No further cancellation notices were mailed to these fourteen policyholders. The evidence indicates that at some point, an employee of Worldwide informed Sherman Wilson, of the Thomas Insurance Agency, that all of the policies would be reinstated and the plaintiff was advised by Thomas that his policy would be reinstated. There is contradictory testimony from Rhodes and Worldwide concerning whether or not proper steps were taken to insure that Thomas, and the plaintiff, were notified that plaintiffs policy was not going to be “reinstated”.

Both Thomas and plaintiff believed the policy was in effect on January 22, 1984, when plaintiff’s home was destroyed by fire. Insured Lloyds denied plaintiff’s claim for insurance proceeds and this litigation ensued.

The trial court ultimately found that plaintiff’s insurance policy was in “full force and effect” when the fire occurred. The judgment in favor of Rhodes, its errors and omissions insurer, Evanston, and Insured Lloyds against Worldwide and its errors and omissions insurer, Mt. Hawley, was apparently based on the finding by the trial court that Worldwide breached its duty to inform Thomas, or plaintiff, that plaintiff’s policy would not be reinstated.

All parties agree that the plaintiff should recover for the loss of his home and property. On appeal, Rhodes, Evanston, and Insured Lloyds contend that the trial court erred in finding that the insurance policy was in full force and effect. They further argue that Worldwide and Mt. Hawley, alone, should be liable for plaintiff’s loss based on Worldwide’s breach of its duty to inform Thomas or plaintiff that the policy would not be reinstated.

Insured Lloyds argues in the alternative that if the trial court correctly found that the policy had not been cancelled, then Insured Lloyds is entitled to judgment against Worldwide and Rhodes, and their errors and omissions insurers, Mt. Hawley and Evanston.

The facts of the instant case are similar to the facts of Broadway v. All-Star Insurance Corp., 285 So.2d 536 (La.1973). In Broadway, Interstate Surplus Line Underwriters was a sales agency for All-Star Insurance Corporation, much the same as Rhodes is a “managing general agency” for Insured Lloyds. Broadway sought to purchase insurance from his local agent. The local agent contacted a broker who in turn contacted Interstate. Interstate issued Broadway a policy underwritten by All-Star. Interstate later attempted to cancel Broadway’s policy. Subsequent to the attempted cancellation, Broadway’s insured property was destroyed by fire and he filed a claim with All-Star. All-Star denied liability claiming that Interstate had cancelled the policy. The agreement between Interstate and All-Star did not give Interstate actual authority to cancel policies underwritten by All-Star. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that All-Star could not claim the benefit of an act, the cancellation, which lay outside of the actual authority of its agent, Interstate, and that Interstate’s attempt to cancel plaintiff’s policy was without effect.

In the case before us, the trial court correctly found that Rhodes was an agent of Insured Lloyds. This fact is not disputed. The agreement between Rhodes and Insured Lloyds did not give Rhodes actual authority to cancel policies. More importantly, the agreement specifically prohibited Rhodes from effecting the mass cancellation of policies without the express written consent of Insured Lloyds. No such consent was given by Insured Lloyds and Rhodes had no actual authority to mass cancel the 252 policies. When Insured Lloyds argues that the plaintiff’s policy was cancelled, it seeks to claim the benefit of the unauthorized act of its agent, Rhodes. Applying the principles enunciated in Broadway, supra, we find that the attempt by Rhodes to mass cancel the policies, including plaintiff’s, was without effect. The notice of cancellation received by plaintiff was ineffective and his policy was [917]*917in full force and effect on January 22,1984, the date of the fire.

Insured Lloyds asserts that Worldwide cannot raise the issue of the limitation contained in the agreement between itself and Rhodes because such agreements or contracts are intended to govern the legal duties and obligations between the parties thereto. Such an argument cannot be maintained under the circumstances of this case and the holding of the court in Broadway, supra.

LSA-R.S. 22:658 provides for reasonable attorney’s fees and a penalty in the amount of 12% of the total amount of the loss when the insurer fails to make payments to the insured within 60 days after demand. This provision however, is operative only when such failure is found to be arbitrary and capricious.

Insured Lloyds knew, or should have known, of the limitation in its agreement with Rhodes, prohibiting Rhodes from effecting the mass cancellation of policies absent its express written consent. Yet, Insured Lloyds attempted to avoid payment of plaintiff’s claim asserting that Rhodes had in fact cancelled plaintiff’s policy. Considering the aforementioned, we find that Insured Lloyds’ failure to pay plaintiff’s claim was arbitrary and capricious.

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Related

Dauzat v. Gem Underwriters, Inc.
602 So. 2d 196 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1992)
Withers v. Worldwide Insurance Brokers, Inc.
503 So. 2d 483 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
500 So. 2d 914, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 8448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/withers-v-worldwide-insurance-brokers-inc-lactapp-1987.