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President v. Jenkins2/6/2003
to advise his insurance agent if the coverage is inconsistent with his desires). Rather, a simple reading of the declarations page directs the insured's attention to the individual endorsement that clearly reflects both a "retroactive date" and effective date of February 1, 1998. The clarity of this provision belies any contrary claim of ambiguity or confusion.
Of course, we enforce unambiguous insurance contracts in accordance with the reasonable expectations of the insured. Sparks, supra, 100 N.J. at 336. In this case, the insured specifically understood the terms of the policy and got exactly what he bargained for. In fact, the "retroactive date" of February 1, 1998 was set because of representations made by Jenkins both orally and in writing.
In August 1997, Jenkins told the C&R;representative that he was presently insured with Princeton and that his coverage with Princeton would expire on February 1, 1998. Shortly after their conversation, on August 18, 1997, Jenkins faxed a completed "Non-Binding Information Quote Form," which represented that his present insurer was Princeton under an "occurrence plus" policy. On this form Jenkins also requested an effective date of "2/98". Along with this form, Jenkins forwarded, among other things, a claims and coverage history form from Princeton dated April 19, 1996, documenting policy periods beginning and ending February 1st of every year from 1987 through 1997. After meeting next with the C&R;agent on January 8, 1998, the following day Jenkins prepared, signed and dated an "Individual Physicians Application" for insurance, which represented that his current policy would expire on February 1, 1998. In response to a specific inquiry on the application, Jenkins represented that his professional liability insurance had never been denied, canceled or non- renewed. The application also contained the following language above Jenkins' signature:
I understand that the coverage offered is provided by a claims-made policy and that incidents that occurred prior to the prior acts or retroactive date are not covered and claims reported after the expiration date are not covered unless I purchase or otherwise obtain an extended reporting endorsement provided by Zurich. (emphasis added.)
And on January 12, 1998, in his application for financing of the premium, Jenkins again represented a policy effective date of February 1, 1998.
In sum, we think it plain that the policy as it pertains to Jenkins provides for an effective date of February 1, 1998 that was specifically understood, indeed requested, by the insured as the date on or after which his acts of negligence would be covered if reported during the policy period. The record is devoid of any evidence that the insured expected, bargained, or for that matter, paid for anything more in the way of coverage. We therefore affirm the motion judge's grant of summary judgment dismissing Jenkins' cross-claims against Zurich.
II.
We similarly affirm the grant of summary judgment in favor of C&R; the authorized insurance broker that secured the Zurich policy. Jenkins claimed that C&R;was professionally negligent in breaching its duty to procure insurance adequate to meet his needs, namely retroactive coverage to bridge the gap between Princeton's cancellation of its policy and the Zurich's policy inception of February 1, 1998. We disagree.
Without question, insurance brokers and agents owe a fiduciary duty of care to insureds. Avery v. Arthur E. Armitage Agency, 242 N.J. Super. 293, 299 (App. Div. 1990); Sobotor v. Prudential Property & Cas. Ins. Co., 200 N.J. Super. 333 (App. Div. 1984). In Carter Lincoln-Mercury, Inc
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