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Quigley v. Jobe11/19/1992
third-party beneficiary to defendant's professional liability insurance contract and that the guidelines governing that contract established duties owed to her by defendant. We disagree.
An insurance policy is a contract and should be interpreted consistent with established principles of contract law. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. v. Johnson, 816 P.2d 952 (Colo. 1991).
A person not a party to an express contract may bring an action on such contract if the parties to the agreement intended to benefit the third party, provided that such benefit is direct and not merely incidental. Jefferson County School District v. Shorey, 826 P.2d 830 (Colo. 1992). The intent to benefit the third party must be apparent from the agreement terms, the surrounding circumstances, or both. E.B. Roberts Construction Co. v. Concrete Contractors, Inc., 704 P.2d 859 (Colo. 1985).
Correspondingly, an incidental beneficiary is one who is neither a promisee nor one to whom the promise is to be rendered but who is benefitted by the undertakings of the contracting parties. Fourth & Main Co. v. Joslin Dry Goods Co., 648 p.2d 178 (Colo. App. 1982).
Here, although patients may benefit from the implementation of the guidelines, there is no indication that defendant or his insurance carrier intended to provide a direct benefit to any third party in adopting the guidelines. The insurance contract was intended to provide liability protection to defendant, and, as stated in that contract, the express purpose of the risk management guidelines was to attempt to "decrease the possibility of a malpractice case, increase the possibility of prevailing or decrease the eventual loss." The contract's explicit remedy for defendant's failure to implement the risk management guidelines was a possible surcharge or non-renewal by the insurance carrier and did not demonstrate an intention to create enforceable rights in or duties to third parties. See, e.g., State Compensation Insurance v. Commercial Union Insurance Co., 631 P.2d 1168 (Colo. App. 1981). Therefore, the trial court did not err in rejecting that argument.
C.
Finally, the plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in excluding the risk management guidelines because they were signed by defendant and, thus, constituted an admission of a party opponent as to the applicable standard of care. This contention is without merit.
A statement may be admissible as an adoptive admission against a party who has manifested his adoption or belief in its truth. CRE 801(d)(2). Here, however, the fact that defendant signed an insurance contract containing the risk management guidelines as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage does not indicate that he adopted the guidelines as the applicable legal standard of professional care owed to his patients. See People v. Quinn, 794 P.2d 1066 (Colo. App. 1990). Thus, the risk management guidelines did not constitute an adoptive admission.
We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the risk management guidelines from evidence.
The judgment is affirmed.
JUDGE JONES and JUDGE MARQUEZ concur.
Disposition
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED
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