Charter Roofing Co., Inc. v. Tri-State Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 05 November 1992
• Docket Number: TRI-STATE,No. C14-92-00177-CV,C14-92-00177-CV
• Parties: CHARTER ROOFING CO., INC., Appellant, v.INSURANCE CO. and Securance Corporation Agency, Appellees. (14th Dist.)
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 903

841 S.W.2d 903

CHARTER ROOFING CO., INC., Appellant, v. TRI-STATE INSURANCE CO. and Securance Corporation Agency, Appellees.

No. C14-92-00177-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas,

Houston (14th Dist.).

Nov. 5, 1992.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 31, 1992.

Macon D. Strother, Houston, for appellant.

David A. Carlson, David A. Carp, Theodore B. Jereb, Houston, for appellees.

Before JUNELL, ROBERTSON and DRAUGHN, JJ.

OPINION

ROBERTSON, Justice.

Charter Roofing appeals the trial court's granting of appellees' motions for summary judgment. Appellant brings eight points of error claiming the trial court erred in granting both motions for summary judgment because it had raised a fact issue as to its claims of the appellees' breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, as to the appellees' violation of DTPA and Insurance Code provisions, as to the applicable statute of limitations and as to appellant's violation of contractual provisions of the insurance policy. We affirm.

In a summary judgment case, the issue on appeal is whether the movant met his burden for summary judgment by establishing that there exists no genuine issue of material fact and he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Authority, 589 S.W.2d 671 (Tex.1979); TEX.R.CIV.P. 166a. The nonmovant is entitled to have all reasonable inferences made and all doubts resolved in his favor. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston v. Big Train Carpet of El Campo, Inc. 739 S.W.2d 792 (Tex.1987).

The following summary judgment evidence was uncontroverted. On July 2, 1985, Charter Roofing Co., Inc. (Charter) purchased a general comprehensive liability policy from Tri-State Insurance Co. (Tri-State). Charter procured the services of Securance Corporation Agency (Securance) to facilitate in the purchase of the policy.

During July, 1985, Charter contracted with Weingarten Realty (Weingarten) to repair the roof of a shopping center in Louisiana. Charter subcontracted the work to another contractor, and this subcontractor then subcontracted the work to another company. On August 24, 1985, the property in Louisiana was damaged by a wind storm. Weingarten requested payment from Charter for the damages.

Charter sought the assistance of Securance in the handling of the claim. Securance gathered the information and delivered it to Tri-State. Once Tri-State received the information regarding Weingarten's claim, it began its own investigation. By September 16, 1985, Tri-State had hired George Newman, an experienced claims adjuster, to handle the Weingarten claim. Newman was based in Louisiana. Newman first spoke with Brian Walker, a Charter representative responsible for monitoring the claim, took a recorded statement from Mr. Walker and he visited the shopping center and took photographs of the damage in late September. Newman also contacted the subcontractor who was actually on the job.

On September 24, 1985, Newman recommended to Tri-State's senior claim adjuster that the claim be denied because the work was not supervised by Charter, the insurance policy excluded coverage for damage caused by property in the care, custody and control of Charter and damage caused by Charter's workmanship. Newman received word from Tri-State on October 8, 1985 that it agreed with his recommendation. On November 25, 1985, Newman wrote Weingarten and informed them their claim had been denied, and he later received a telephone call from a Weingarten representative who indicated they had received the denial letter and they understood it dealt with their claim for the damages suffered on August 24, 1985.

On February 2, 1988, Charter voluntarily paid Weingarten $9,815.65 for the damages in order to preserve its good business relationship with Weingarten. Weingarten's claim had never been reduced to judgment as Weingarten had never filed suit against Charter, nor was there a writing between Charter and Weingarten to evidence their settlement. Charter filed suit against Tri-State and Securance on August 21, 1989.

In its first two points of error, Charter claims the court erred in granting Tri-State's amended motion for summary judgment because it had raised a fact issue as to whether Tri-State breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing and whether Tri-State had violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Appellant fails to point us to any authority that establishes an action for the breach of good faith and fair dealing in this type of liability insurance policy. In Texas, there are three recognized claims of breach of good faith and fair dealing. This extra-contractual liability has been case-law developed.

The first type of extra-contractual liability occurs when an insurer fails to accept an offer of settlement after being given a reasonable time to do so and the insured then suffers a judgment in excess of its policy limits. G.A. Stowers Furniture Company v. American Indemnity Company, 15 S.W.2d 544 (Tex. Comm'n App.1929, holding approved); Highway Insurance Underwriters v. Lufkin-Beaumont Motor Coaches, Inc., 215 S.W.2d 904 (Tex.Civ.App.--Beaumont 1948, writ ref'd n.r.e.). The courts have also recognized an extra-contractual claim for damages that arise from the handling of workers' claims for benefits under a workers compensation policy. Aranda v. Insurance Company of North America, 748 S.W.2d 210 (Tex.1988).

The last type of extra-contractual claim acknowledged by Texas courts revolves around first party insurance cases. Arnold v. National County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 725 S.W.2d 165, 167 (Tex.1987). In Arnold, the court sought to protect the rights of the insured due to the unequal bargaining power of the parties and the ability of the insurance company to arbitrarily deny coverage and delay payment of claims. Id. Arnold established the duty of an insurer to deal fairly and in good faith with its insured in the processing and payment of claims. Id. Appellant cites Arnold as authority for its claim of Tri-State's alleged breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.

The facts of this case are distinguishable from Arnold and its progeny. The cases imposing the duty of good faith and fair dealing all deal with first-party claims against an insurer. See e.g., Arnold, 725 S.W.2d at 166-67; Vail v. Texas Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 754 S.W.2d 129, 130-31 (Tex.1988); These decisions concern claims brought by an insured that arose under their own insurance for damage suffered to their own property or their own personal injuries. The policy that Charter purchased was a comprehensive general liability policy. It was intended to cover claims made against Charter by third parties. All potential claims to be covered were those made by these third parties. In this case, the claim was made by Weingarten. As such, Charter had no claim. Appellant cannot point us to, nor have we found, any authority that has allowed a cause of action for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing in this type of third-party insurance claim.

Even if this type of claim were to exist, Tri-State would still maintain the right to deny invalid or questionable claims based upon a reasonable investigation. The breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing created by the Arnold decision arises if:

there is no reasonable basis for denial of a claim or a delay in payment or a failure on the part of the insurer to determine whether there is any reasonable basis for the denial or delay.

725 S.W.2d at 167. Whether there is a reasonable basis for denial must be judged by the facts before the insurer at the time the claim was denied. Viles v. Security Nat. Ins. Co., 788 S.W.2d 566, 567 (Tex.1990).

The uncontroverted summary judgment evidence shows the claim by Weingarten arose on August 24, 1985. Tri-State, once informed of the claim, hired an experience adjuster to begin investigating the claim by September 16, 1985. By September 24, 1985 the adjuster had made his findings to Tri-State. Before making his findings the adjuster spoke with a representative of Charter. He investigated the scene and spoke with the subcontractor at the job site. Once he gathered this information he then made his report. Based upon his investigation the adjuster recommended the claim be denied. The adjuster based his recommendation on...