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Martin v. Principal Casualty Insurance Co.12/5/1991
The defendant, Budget Rent-a-Car (Budget) appeals the summary judgment entered in favor of plaintiffs, Alvin and Susan B Martin and Thomas G. and Ollace M. Williams, relative to its obligations to plaintiffs under the Colorado Auto Accident Reparation Act (No-Fault Act), § 10-4-701 C.R.S., et seq. (1987 Repl. Vol. 4A). Budget also appeals from a final judgment entered following a jury trial in which verdicts were returned against it on plaintiffs' claims for breach of contract and bad faith and from an order awarding attorney fees to plaintiffs' former counsel. Plaintiffs cross-appeal the trial court's ruling dismissing their claim for exemplary damages and the trial court's post-trial remittitur order reducing their bad faith award and denying their subsequent claim for attorney fees. We affirm each of the judgments except the trial court's post-trial orders on the issue of attorney fees.
The plaintiffs were traveling in Texas when the van they had rented from Budget in Colorado blew a tire . In the resulting crash of the vehicle all plaintiffs sustained injuries and incurred medical bills which they submitted to Budget, a self-insured no-fault insurance carrier under § 10-4-716, C.R.S. (1987 Repl. Vol. 4A).
Budget consistently refused payment of any medical bills, and plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against Budget and Principal Casualty Insurance Co. (Principal), the insurer of the driver of the van at the time of the accident. Plaintiffs sought recovery for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits, treble damages for PIP non-payment, and exemplary damages. Plaintiffs also sought damages for bad faith breach of insurance contract.
Principal moved for summary judgment, arguing that under § 10-4-701, et seq. C.R.S. (1987 Repl. Vol. 4A) it was not the responsible no-fault carrier. In June 1989, the trial court granted Principal's motion, and it is not presently a party to this lawsuit.
Also in June 1989, plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment on the issue of Budget's liability under the No-Fault Act. Budget filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. In August, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs, holding that Budget was the responsible no-fault carrier and was required to provide plaintiffs' PIP coverage in accordance with § 10-4-706 and 10-4-707, C.R.S. (1987 Repl. Vol. 4A).
Subsequently, numerous meetings were held and communications exchanged between plaintiffs and Budget. Plaintiffs, however, did not receive any payment from Budget and, in April 1990, a jury trial was held.
The jury returned verdicts in favor of plaintiffs and awarded plaintiffs damages for unpaid benefits of $12,491.53 and treble damages $33,934.59. Finally, it awarded plaintiffs $1,460,000 on their claims for bad faith breach of the insurance contract. This award was reduced to $1,000,000 pursuant to § 13-21-102.5, C.R.S. (1991 Cum. Supp.).
Post-trial, Budget filed a motion for a new trial/judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Plaintiffs filed a motion for costs, interest, and attorney fees. In response to these motions, the trial court issued an order in which it found the verdict on the claim of bad faith to be excessive and issued an order of remittitur reducing this award to $294,000. Additionally, the trial court denied plaintiffs' motion for attorney fees.
I.
Budget initially contends that the trial court erred in determining that it was obligated, under the No-Fault Act, to provide plaintiffs' PIP benefits. We disagree.
A.
First, Budget argues, in es
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