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Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Tucker11/23/2005
2005 Opinion No. 118
The decision of the district court is affirmed.
Farmers Insurance Exchange appeals from the district court's decision insofar as it denied leave to amend the complaint to seek adjudication of the amount of an underinsured motorist (UIM) claim in a declaratory proceeding. We affirm.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On August 15, 2002, eleven-year-old Cathryn Tucker (Decedent) suffered fatal injuries in a two-car collision in Montana. At the time of the accident Decedent was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a relative, Robert Cushman. The accident occurred when the driver of an oncoming vehicle, Janie McNair, crossed over the centerline and crashed into Cushman's vehicle. Prior to her death, Decedent resided in Idaho Falls with her mother, Patricia Tucker, and her mother's husband, Robert Starr. Starr had purchased an insurance policy from Farmers Insurance Company of Idaho (FICI) and an umbrella insurance policy from Farmers Insurance Exchange (FIE) prior to the collision, both of which provided UIM coverage for the family. In March of 2003, two actions relating to the accident were filed, one in Idaho and another in Montana.
FICI was first to the courthouse, filing a complaint in Bannock County on March 13, 2003, seeking to compel arbitration of the UIM claim against its policy. FIE joined in the complaint five days later. Three days later, on March 21, 2003, Tucker and the Decedent's father, John Hoctor, filed a complaint in Montana seeking damages against McNair for negligence and asserting UIM claims against FICI and FIE.
On May 13, 2003, FICI and FIE filed motions in both actions. In the Idaho action, they moved for an order compelling arbitration. In the Montana action, they moved for dismissal as against them, based on the pendency of the Idaho proceedings. On June 23, 2003, the Montana action was dismissed as against FICI and FIE, based on comity and the fact that the Idaho court was considering the question of whether the insurance policies required arbitration -- a question involving interpretation of insurance contracts issued in Idaho to Idaho insureds.
The Idaho court granted the motion to compel arbitration as to FICI because that policy contained an express arbitration clause. The district court denied the motion as to FIE because that policy did not contain such a clause. Following the ruling on the motion to compel arbitration, Tucker and Hoctor settled their UIM claim against FICI for $288,404.09 (policy limits, plus interest). They settled their claims against McNair and her insurance carrier, State Farm, for $35,625 and against Cushman and his insurance carrier, Safeco, for $200,000. On September 2, 2003, they filed a second complaint in Montana, naming FIE as defendant and seeking damages to the extent that the amounts received from McNair, Cushman, and FICI, had not satisfied their claims.
On November 10, 2003, FIE filed a motion in the Idaho action, seeking leave to file an amended complaint for declaratory relief. FIE wished to pursue a declaratory judgment that would determine the right of Tucker and Hoctor "to recover additional amounts under FIE's policy's UIM coverage, if any, and the amount thereof, according and subject to the terms and conditions of FIE's policy's UIM coverage and applicable law." FIE was partially successful on its motion to amend in the Idaho action. The district court allowed FIE leave to amend in order to pursue a declaratory judgment "to determine whether FIE must pay . . . damages and to whom it must pay the damages", but it refused amendment to allow FIE to determine in such action "the amount of damages the Defendants may seek f
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