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Engle v. Estate of Fischer1/28/2003
Appellant brought an action for underinsured motorist benefits following settlement of her liability claims for injuries arising out of a motor vehicle accident. The trial court reduced the jury's damage award by the amounts received by appellant from collateral sources pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 548.36 (2002), and granted respondent's motion to offset the award by the amount appellant received in a pretrial settlement from a driver later found by the jury to be 0% at fault. Appellant contends that (1) the trial court erred by concluding that the language of respondent's insurance policy limits its total liability to include the amount paid to settle the liability claim on behalf of its insured; (2) the language of the insurance contract is ambiguous; (3) the insurance contract contravenes state law; and (4) the trial court erred by not allowing appellant an offset of the collateral source reduction by amounts paid by her to secure insurance coverage. We affirm.
FACTS
On June 27, l994, appellant Tiesha Engle was injured in a motor vehicle accident while riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by Brandon Thompson and insured by Continental Casualty Company (Continental). Thompson's vehicle collided with a vehicle driven by Dorothy Fischer. Fischer's vehicle was insured by Farmers Insurance Group with liability limits of $100,000. Thompson's policy with Continental provided for $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident limits for both liability and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverages. Engle sued Thompson and Fischer for negligence but settled both claims before trial. Fischer's insurer paid its policy limits of $100,000 and Thompson's insurer, Continental, paid $70,000 for a full and final release of Engle's claims against Thompson.
As a passenger in Thompson's vehicle, Engle asserted a claim for UIM benefits against Continental pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 65B.49, subd. 3a(5) (2002). Following trial, the jury found Fischer to be 100% at fault for the accident and Thompson to be 0% at fault and awarded Engle total damages of $206,690.50 comprised of the following: $8,190.50 for past medical expenses; $100,000 for past pain, disability, disfigurement and/or emotional distress; $23,500 for future medical expenses; and $75,000 for future pain, disability, disfigurement and/or emotional distress. The trial court applied Minn. Stat. §á548.36, subd. 3(a) (2002), the collateral source rule, to the verdict and reduced the total damages by the $100,000 Engle received in settlement from Fischer and the sum of $8,190.50, the amount of no-fault benefits Engle received from her own insurer.
Continental moved for a further reduction of the verdict based on the $70,000 it paid in settlement on behalf of its insured, Thompson. Continental based its motion on two arguments—that the settlement payment was a collateral source under Minn. Stat. §á548.36, subd. 3(a), and that the policy language limited its liability. Continental also moved for a reduction of the verdict by an additional $23,500 on the ground that the evidence did not support the jury's award for future medical expenses.
The trial court denied Continental's motion for reduction of the future-medical-expense award, finding that the evidence was sufficient to support it, but granted Continental's motion with respect to the $70,000 offset. The court found that the $70,000 settlement was not a collateral source, but concluded that the plain language of Continental's policy limited its liability to $100,000. Because Continental's liability to Engle was offset by the amount Continental previously paid in settlement of the liability claim, the district court ordered Continental to pay $28,500 in UIM bene
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