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Roberts v. Progressive Northwestern Insurance Co.12/21/2004
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED.
Parrish, P.J., and Shrum, J., concur.
Opinion:
On July 21, 1997, Thomas Roberts ("Thomas") and Cara Roberts ("Cara") were passengers in a 1997 Camero being driven by Chad Campbell ("Campbell") on Highway 65 north of Branson, Missouri. The car was involved in a high-speed automobile crash, killing Campbell and causing serious injuries to Thomas and Cara.
The Camero was owned by Reliable Chevrolet, Inc. ("Reliable"). Reliable had obtained liability, uninsured motorist and other insurance coverages on the Camero through a policy issued by Universal Underwriters Insurance Company ("Universal"). At the time the automobile accident occurred, Thomas and Cara resided with their mother, Patricia Roberts. She had a policy of automobile insurance issued by Progressive Northwestern Insurance Company ("Progressive") that covered the three vehicles she owned. The policy included uninsured motorist coverage on each vehicle with limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.
Thomas and Cara submitted claims to Universal alleging their personal injuries had been caused by Campbell's negligent operation of the Camero. Universal issued a written denial of liability coverage for these claims. Thereafter, Thomas and Cara submitted claims for uninsured motorist benefits to Progressive. Progressive denied it owed Thomas or Cara any uninsured motorist benefits, which resulted in separate lawsuits being filed by each claimant against Progressive.
While the Progressive lawsuits were pending, Thomas and Cara settled claims for uninsured motorist benefits they had asserted against Universal. As a part of these settlements, Thomas and Cara each signed a document releasing Universal, Reliable, Campbell and others from any further liability. These releases, however, preserved Thomas' and Cara's uninsured motorist claims against Progressive.
After a consolidated trial in July 2003, Thomas and Cara each obtained a judgment against Progressive in the amount of $75,000 on their uninsured motorist claims. Progressive appealed from both judgments, and the appeals have been consolidated in this Court. Progressive challenges the judgments against it on two grounds. First, Progressive argues each judgment is against the weight of the "admissible" evidence because "there is insufficient evidence from which the court could conclude that Chad Campbell had implied permission of Reliable Chevrolet to use the vehicle as any such evidence was improperly considered by the court ...." Second, Progressive argues Thomas' and Cara's uninsured motorist claims were void as a matter of law because the releases they signed did not preserve Progressive's right of subrogation. Additional facts necessary to our analysis of the case are included below as we address Progressive's two points on appeal.
Standard of Review
In this court-tried case, our review is governed by Rule 84.13(d). We must affirm the trial court's judgment unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron , 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976); Ridgway v. TTnT Development Corp. , 126 S.W.3d 807, 812 (Mo. App. 2004). The trial court's judgments are presumed correct, and Progressive has the burden of proving them erroneous. See Wingate v. Griffin , 610 S.W.2d 417, 419 (Mo. App. 1980). We review the evidence and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the judgments and disregard all contrary evidence and inferences. Arndt v. Beardsley , 102 S.W.3d 572, 574 (Mo. App. 2003). Judging credibility and assigning weight to evidence and testim
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