 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Tam5/20/1991
This is a certiorari proceeding initiated by Shelter Mutual Insurance Company (Shelter) to review the court of appeals decision in Tam v. Shelter Mutual Insurance Co., 786 P.2d 501 (Colo. App. 1990). The court of appeals held that the trial court erred in deducting a setoff from a damage award prior to trebling the damage award pursuant to section 10-4-708, 4A C.R.S. (1987). We disagree and accordingly reverse and remand with directions.
I
The respondent Winnie Tam was involved in an automobile accident in November 1983, and she subsequently began receiving chiropractic treatment for the injuries. Guaranty National Insurance Company (Guaranty), Tam's automobile insurer, paid for the chiropractic treatment, which by May 1985 had been reduced to one visit per week.
In August 1985, Tam was involved in a second automobile accident, and Shelter then was Tam's automobile insurer. Following the August 1985 accident Tam again began receiving chiropractic treatment three times each week. Shelter agreed to pay for chiropractic treatment in excess of one visit per week, reasoning that Tam had already been receiving, and Guaranty had been paying for, chiropractic treatment once each week prior to the second accident. In early 1986, Tam underwent a Shelter-initiated medical examination, and the examining physician informed Shelter that Tam would probably not need chiropractic care beyond three additional months. Shelter subsequently informed Tam that it would pay benefits only through June 6, 1986. Tam, however, continued to receive chiropractic treatment through October 1986.
In October 1987, Tam sued Shelter to obtain payment of $8,323.78, later reduced to $8,311.78, which represented Tam's unpaid medical expenses that Tam alleged Shelter was obligated to pay. Shelter defended in part on the ground that the chiropractic treatment following June 6, 1986, was not "reasonable and necessary." In November 1987, Guaranty paid Tam $3,957.54 in return for a release from any liability for claims arising out of the November 1983 accident.
The jury returned a verdict finding that the chiropractic treatment was reasonable and necessary, that Shelter's refusal to pay the chiropractic-treatment expenses was willful and wanton, and that Tam had incurred $14,541.78 in expenses for chiropractic treatment. The trial court subsequently granted Shelter's motion for remittitur and setoff of $6,230 -- thus reducing the jury award to $8,311.78 -- because the jury had added the amount to the award even though that amount had already been paid.
During the trial, the parties had stipulated that the jury would not be told of the amount Guaranty had paid Tam in settlement, but only that an insurance company other than Shelter had paid some of Tam's medical bills; "but [the jury was] not to take that into consideration" in assessing Tam's unpaid medical expenses because "the court will handle that." Following the trial the court determined treble damages against Shelter for willful and wanton failure to pay insurance benefits pursuant to subsection 10-4-708(1), 4A C.R.S. (1987), after deducting $3,957.54 (the amount Guaranty paid to Tam in settlement) from the damage award.
The court of appeals reversed the trial court's damage award and remanded with directions to recalculate the damage award by trebling $8,311.78 before deducting Guaranty's settlement payment to Tam. We granted certiorari to consider whether the district court properly deducted the settlement payment from the jury award before trebling damages pursuant to subsection 10-4-708(1).
II
Tam argues that the stipulation reached du
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Colorado Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|