The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently held that, where an insurer settles with a pro se claimant and issues a settlement check to the claimant, the insurer must pay off any valid medical provider liens pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44-49 and 44-50 before making any payment to the claimant. Nash Hosps., Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co., 803 S.E.2d 256 (N.C. App. 2017). A check made payable jointly to the claimant and the lienholder will not suffice; in fact, it violates the lien statute and is an unfair and deceptive trade practice.
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The Insurance Law Section has a new medium for giving you insurance news – a blog. We have moved away from a newsletter format and now embrace the blog format. Welcome. I am the chair of the Insurance Law Section this 2017-18 year. We have an exciting year ahead of us. Let me give you a quick snapshot.
Annual Meeting/CLE
We are moving the annual meeting/CLE from the April date to a January date. It will be Wednesday, Jan. 31, at the NC Bar Center on Weston Parkway in Cary. The CLE program co-chairs are Alan Ruley and Deb Bowers. You will soon receive a brochure about the CLE, and I encourage you to register and attend.
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On Aug. 1, 2017 the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a decision which provides two helpful takeaways for the insurance law practitioner. In Plum Properties, L.L.C. v. N.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 2017 N.C. App. LEXIS 607, Plum Properties, L.L.C. (Plum) filed a tort action against two minors and their mothers, alleging that the minors “intentionally, willfully and maliciously” vandalized four houses owned or managed by Plum, causing $58,000 in damage and that the mothers were also liable for the damages based on negligent supervision of their minor children. Both mothers had homeowners insurance policies with Farm Bureau which provided personal liability coverage for “property damage caused by an occurrence” (occurrence defined as an accident), but contained the standard “expected or intended injury” exclusion, which excludes coverage for “property damage which is intended by or which may reasonably be expected to result from the intentional acts or omissions or criminal acts or omissions of one or more insured persons.” Plum filed a declaratory judgment action against Farm Bureau seeking a declaration that the damages alleged in the underlying tort action are covered by the mothers’ homeowners policies. The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Farm Bureau.
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Demonstrating that equitable estoppel can create genuine obstacles for insurers, the court in the Middle District of North Carolina denied a carrier relief to which it would have otherwise been entitled based upon the carrier’s prior conduct.
Vytas and Lee Anne Bankaitis sued Defendant Allstate Insurance Company in state court for breach of contract, deceptive trade practices, unfair claims settlement practices and bad faith. Plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that after a fire loss Allstate was aware of the breadth of the damages claimed and refused to provide sufficient value in replacement cost of Plaintiffs’ home. Plaintiffs also alleged that Allstate knew it intended to deny the claim for additional damages, failed to tell Plaintiffs, required them to file multiple claims for the same loss and effectively placed their claims beyond the applicable statute of limitations. Allstate removed the action to the U.S. District Court and filed its motion to dismiss contending Plaintiffs’ “causes of action for breach of contract and bad faith were untimely filed and thus subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim.” Bankaitis v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 2017 WL 168907 (M.D.N.C. Jan 17, 2017). Allstate did not move to dismiss the deceptive trade practice claim (where the statute of limitations is four years), and Plaintiffs conceded on Allstate’s motion to dismiss the unfair claim settlement practices claim under N.C.G.S. 58-63-15(11) because such statute does not create a private right of action. The U.S. District Court found that, while Plaintiffs’ claims for breach of contract and bad faith would ordinarily be barred pursuant to the applicable statute of limitations, Plaintiffs established equitable estoppel sufficient to withstand dismissal of their claims at this stage of the litigation.
