 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Head Industrial Coatings & Services Inc. v. Maryland Insurance Co.7/29/1998
fy this opinion to specify whether he was still entitled to recovery under the contract under the Supplementary Payments clause, the Supreme Court did not write on this question.
The contractual Supplementary Payment clause is for the interest that accrued on the judgment. This type of clause has been examined before. In Plasky v. Gulf Ins. Co., 160 Tex. 612, 335 S.W.2d 581, 583 (1960), the Court held that this type of a supplementary payments clause means what it says: that the insurer has contractually agreed to pay the interest on the entirety of a judgment when the insured is required to sue the insurer in a separate action to recover under the policy. The Court also noted that the insurer can end the imposition of the interest by tendering the policy limits. This is precisely the type of clause that we discussed in our original opinion.
Under the principles of Plasky, Head is entitled to recover contractual prejudgment interest on the policy amount of $500,000 until the entry of the first judgment and is entitled to recover contractual postjudgment interest on the entirety of Judgment # 1 until the entry of Judgment # 2 against Maryland in the second suit.
At that point, because the Supreme Court held in its opinion in the present case that Head's recovery in Judgment # 2 was limited to the policy amount of $500,000, Head is entitled to postjudgment interest on that amount from December 9, 1993, until satisfaction.
The Supreme Court did not alter the entitlement to prejudgment interest and postjudgment interest. What is referred to as a supplemental payments clause is no more than contractual postjudgment interest. This matter was not contested in the trial court or on appeal to this Court, and was not discussed by the Supreme Court. We do not find that the Supreme Court intended to eliminate that uncontested damage by implication or omission but find that it would be covered in the specific language by the court which determined that Nelson/Head were "entitled to prejudgment and postjudgment interest." This is also reflected by the fact that the Supreme Court did not criticize or denounce its Plasky decision, which upholds such an entitlement under this type of insurance contract.
Effect of Settlements and the Underlying Suit
Maryland also argues that no interest should be paid on Judgment # 1, not because Maryland satisfied the judgment, but because the interlocking web of settlement agreements in effect satisfied the judgment. Thus, according to Maryland, Head was not damaged because liability was limited to $500,000 by the settlements. Maryland bases its theory upon our opinion in Birmingham Fire Ins. Co. v. American Nat'l Fire, 947 S.W.2d 592, 606 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 1997, no writ), in which we held that interest does not accrue on a satisfied judgment. In the present case, however, the judgment was never paid by any party, and the fact that the injured party chose to enlist the aid of the insured by limiting his level of liability does not in some way magically inure to the benefit of the insurer.
Because of the rationale of State Farm Fire and Cas. Co. v. Gandy, 925 S.W.2d 696 (Tex. 1996), Maryland next argues that it is not liable for damages. Maryland's reading of Gandy is that a "lay-down judgment" is not any evidence of damages in a lawsuit by an assignee against the insurer; thus, Judgment # 1 is no evidence of damages, and Maryland should not have to pay any amount of interest on a judgment based thereon. This contention pulls Gandy out of its context into a new arena. In the present case, the insurer eventually realized that it could not contest liability, but nevertheless chose not to tender the policy li
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Texas Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|