Britnell v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.
| Citation | 601 F.Supp.3d 1310 |
| Decision Date | 06 April 2021 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 2:20-CV-00054-RWS |
| Parties | Kelly BRITNELL, et al., Plaintiff, v. STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
David Austin Bersinger, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff.
Thomas W. Curvin, Kamryn Marie Deegan, Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant.
This case comes before the Court on Plaintiff Kelly Britnell's ("Plaintiff" or "Mrs. Britnell") Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [30] and Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company's ("Defendant" or "State Farm Fire") Motion for Summary Judgment [35]. After reviewing the record, the Court enters the following Order.
This insurance coverage dispute is about whether State Farm Fire was obligated to provide insurance coverage to its insured for an accident pursuant to a policy that it issued and whether it breached its obligations by refusing to do so. While the facts of the underlying accident are undisputed, the parties disagree as to how the insurance policy in question should be interpreted and applied and whether the insured complied with the policy's timely notice provision.
Dr. Keith Prasse is a self-employed cattle farmer in Georgia whose farming business consists of raising purebred Beefmaster cattle. As part of his cattle farming business, he regularly attends purebred cattle sales hosted by the Southeastern Beefmaster Breeders Association ("SEBBA") and other associations, where he shows his cattle, networks with other cattle farmers, and keeps up to date on the purebred cattle industry. He owns a 20-foot motor-less trailer, which he mounts to the back of his pickup truck and uses to transport his cattle to sales and events. In accordance with Georgia law, Dr. Prasse obtained and maintains a motor vehicle registration and license plate for his trailer.
At the time of the relevant events in this case, and in part because of the nature of and the risks associated with operating his farming business, Dr. Prasse maintained two insurance policies with two different State Farm entities: (1) an automobile policy ("auto policy") with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm Mutual"); and (2) a Farm/Ranch Liability Policy ("Farm/Ranch Policy") with Defendant State Farm Fire. The auto policy had a $100,000 liability limit, while the Farm/Ranch Policy had a $1,000,000 liability limit.
The Farm/Ranch Policy with State Farm Fire is the insurance policy at issue in this case. It provides that, "[i]f a claim is made or a suit is brought against [Dr. Prasse] for damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which this coverage applies, caused by an occurrence," State Farm Fire will "pay up to [its] limit of liability for the damages for which [Dr. Prasse] is legally liable." The Farm/Ranch Policy contains a Motor Vehicle Exclusion, which provides:
The Farm/Ranch Policy defines "motor vehicle" to include a "land motor vehicle designed for travel on public roads or subject to motor vehicle registration" as well as a "trailer or semi-trailer designed for travel on public roads and subject to motor vehicle registration."
And the Motor Vehicle Exclusion itself contains an exception ("the Farm/Ranch Endorsement"), which states:
The Farm/Ranch Policy also includes a notice provision, which mandates:
And, finally, the Farm/Ranch Policy provides that "[n]o action shall be brought against [State Farm Fire] unless there has been compliance with the policy provisions."
In February 2012, SEBBA hosted a purebred cattle sale and convention at the Tunica County Expo Center in Tunica, Mississippi. The event included a competitive showing of bulls by their breeders. On February 25, 2012, Dr. Prasse attended the event and brought his herd bull to be considered in the competitive showing. He transported his herd bull from his home and farm in Georgia to the event by mounting his trailer to the back of his truck, loading the bull in the trailer, and pulling the trailer and bull behind his truck.
After the showing, when it was time to retrieve his herd bull, Dr. Prasse mounted his trailer back onto his truck and drove into a loading and unloading area in a breezeway. He waited in a line of vehicles to pick up and load his bull back into the trailer attached to his truck. The line eventually moved, and Dr. Prasse moved his truck forward. As he did so, his trailer struck Mrs. Britnell, an Alabama resident who also attended the SEBBA event and who was walking through the breezeway between Dr. Prasse's trailer and a cement wall. The collision caused Mrs. Britnell to suffer severe injuries.
Dr. Prasse says that, within an hour of his accident with Mrs. Britnell, he contacted the State Farm office in Athens, Georgia where his State Farm agent, Rhett Butler, worked and notified them about the accident. He recalls speaking with someone at the office that day about his accident, who told him that, since his trailer was mounted on his truck at the time of the accident, coverage for the accident had to come from his auto policy and not his Farm/Ranch Policy. Dr. Prasse was surprised by the guidance that the Farm/Ranch Policy would not cover his accident. In any event, two days after the accident, Dr. Prasse's State Farm agent submitted a claim to State Farm Mutual for the accident. State Farm Fire disputes Dr. Prasse's characterization of his communications with State Farm and its agents, stating that they do not have records showing that Dr. Prasse immediately contacted them after the accident.
On April 17, 2013, counsel for Mrs. Britnell sent a letter to Dr. Prasse regarding her potential claim against him arising from the accident. Dr. Prasse says that he immediately forwarded this letter to his State Farm office in Athens, Georgia. State Farm Mutual received the letter and retained an attorney in Georgia to represent Dr. Prasse. In addition, in response to his inquiries, Dr. Prasse states that State Farm officials or representatives told him to ensure that his State Farm agent filed a claim for the accident with his Farm/Ranch Policy so that State Farm Fire could formally investigate coverage. Accordingly, in May 2013, Dr. Prasse submitted a claim to State Farm Fire.
On June 24, 2013, State Farm Fire sent a letter to Dr. Prasse, denying coverage for his claim under his Farm/Ranch Policy. State Farm Fire explained that coverage for Dr. Prasse's accident with Mrs. Britnell was excluded under the Farm/Ranch Policy's Motor Vehicle Exclusion and that the Farm/Ranch Endorsement did not restore coverage. State Farm Fire also instructed Dr. Prasse to notify it if he were later sued because of the accident.
The following year, on October 8, 2014, Mrs. Britnell filed a personal injury lawsuit against Dr. Prasse in the Circuit Court of Tunica County, Mississippi. She then filed an amended complaint on November 13, 2014. After receiving notice by mail of the lawsuit that Mrs. Britnell filed against him, Dr. Prasse says that he again contacted his State Farm agent in the Athens, Georgia State Farm office. State Farm Mutual then retained defense counsel in Mississippi to represent Dr. Prasse in the case. Over the course of the litigation, the parties engaged in settlement negotiations, and in or around early March 2018, Mrs. Britnell made Dr. Prasse a settlement offer in the amount of $300,000.
On or about March 9, 2018, counsel for Dr. Prasse sent a letter to State Farm Fire, explaining the settlement offer that Dr. Prasse had received and seeking an explanation of State Farm Fire's earlier denial of coverage for the accident. Counsel for Dr. Prasse also emailed a copy of the letter to statefarmclaims@statefarm.com. On March 23, 2018, State Farm Fire reaffirmed its denial of coverage under Dr. Prasse's Farm/Ranch Policy, again asserting that the Motor Vehicle Exclusion barred coverage for the accident and that the Farm/Ranch Endorsement did not reinstate coverage. On May 21, 2018, counsel for Dr. Prasse asked State Farm Fire to reevaluate its position and contribute to the proposed settlement with Mrs. Britnell. On July 18, 2018, State Farm Fire once again reaffirmed its coverage denial, this time also contending that Dr. Prasse did not provide timely notice of Mrs. Britnell's lawsuit to it.
In July 2019, the trial court judge overseeing Mrs. Britnell's lawsuit against Dr. Prasse entered an Order on Proposed Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law. The Order found that Dr. Prasse's negligence was the sole proximate cause of Mrs. Britnell's injuries and entered a judgment against him in the amount of $1,346,295.91. Around the same time, Dr. Prasse and Mrs. Britnell entered into an Assignment Agreement and Covenant Not to Execute, through which Dr. Prasse assigned his claims against...
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