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C.P. v. Allstate Insurance Company3/3/2000
OPINION No. 5245
I. INTRODUCTION
The adult son of homeowners assaulted a child visiting their home. The child and her parents sued the homeowners, claiming they negligently caused her injuries. Invoking exclusions for intentional and criminal acts, the homeowners' liability insurer refused to defend. The homeowners settled with the claimants and assigned their rights against their insurer, and the child's family then sued the insurer and its adjuster. The United States District Court for the District of Alaska, where that suit is pending, has asked us to answer certified questions of state law: (1) does the insurer's salaried claims adjuster owe tort duties to the insureds; (2) does the insurance policy cover claims that the homeowners negligently failed to do things that would have protected the child; and (3) does a declaration of no coverage affect the insurer's liability under the policy? Applying our existing case law, we answer "yes" to the first question. We also answer "yes" to the second question, because the insurance policy did not unambiguously withhold coverage for claims alleging that the homeowners acted negligently, and that their own conduct, not derivative of their adult son's, was a legal cause of injury. Having found coverage, we do not reach the third question.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Dolan and Eleanor Lancaster were homeowners who resided in their home with their adult son, Harold Lancaster, and Harold's daughter, C.L. C.P., an eleven-year-old friend of C.L., spent the night of November 11, 1995, with C.L. in the Lancaster home. C.P.'s parents did not know that Dolan and Eleanor were out of town that night and that Harold Lancaster was staying at the house. While C.P. was at the Lancasters' home, Harold Lancaster physically and sexually assaulted her.
Allstate Insurance Company had issued a homeowner's insurance policy to Dolan and Eleanor Lancaster. The policy covered liability for bodily injury "arising from an accident," and required Allstate to defend the insureds against covered claims. It excluded coverage for injury resulting from intentional or criminal acts. It also contained a "joint obligations" clause.
In December 1995 C.P. and her parents sued Harold, Dolan, and Eleanor for personal injury . The complaint alleged that Harold assaulted C.P., causing injury to her. It also alleged that the elder Lancasters were negligent (in failing to disclose Harold's presence or his alleged propensity to assault children and in failing to watch over C.P.), and that " s a direct and proximate result" of the elder Lancasters' negligence, the plaintiffs suffered damages. The claims against the elder Lancasters were based on their alleged negligence, and did not attempt to attribute Harold's acts to them.
The elder Lancasters tendered to Allstate the defense of C.P.'s claims against the elder Lancasters. Allstate assigned Sheryl Norton, a salaried Allstate employee, to investigate C.P.'s claims. Norton in turn consulted attorney Mark Wilkerson. Wilkerson raised doubts about coverage which Norton relayed to her superiors. Allstate then denied coverage and notified all three Lancasters that it would not defend them against C.P.'s claims.
In April 1996 Dolan and Eleanor Lancaster entered into a settlement agreement with C.P. Per the agreement, Dolan and Eleanor confessed judgment to C.P. and agreed that the amount of C.P.'s damages would be arbitrated. Dolan and Eleanor also assigned to C.P. the right to assert the elder Lancasters' claims against Allstate and permitted C.P. to continue to pursue claims against Harold. C.P. agreed not to collect damages from Dolan and Eleanor except as necessar
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