Lawrence v. Continental Ins. Co.

Decision Date01 June 1967
Docket NumberNo. 2031,2031
Citation199 So.2d 398
PartiesEsther O. LAWRENCE et vir., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CONTINENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtCourt of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Michael F. Thompson, Lafayette, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Davidson, Meaux, Onebane & Donohoe, by Edward C. Abell, Jr., Lafayette, for defendant-appellee.

Before TATE, FRUGE , and HOOD, Judges.

TATE, Judge.

The plaintiffs' suit was dismissed for failure to implead an indispensable party. LSA-C.C.P. Art. 641. The plaintiffs had attempted to do so, but the indispensable party was dismissed from the suit since he was a non-resident and Louisiana could exercise no personal jurisdiction over him.

The trial court had concluded that the non-resident was an indispensable party by virtue of a clause in the defendant insurer's policy requiring his joinder at the election of the insurer. The plaintiffs contend, inter alia, that the clause is void insofar as violating a statutory provision prohibiting policy conditions which deprive Louisiana courts of policy claims.

Mrs. Lawrence, the plaintiff wife, had purchased a family automobile liability policy from the defendant Continental's agent in Lafayette, Louisiana, the city of her domicile. Less than two months later she was involved in an accident in Illinois with an Illinois minor. The minor was uninsured. Consequently, she as named insured was protected by the 'uninsured motorist' coverage making her insurer responsible to pay all her damages up to a certain limit for which the uninsured motorist might be held liable. 1 The insured wife and her husband sue Continental for the damages caused through the alleged negligence of the uninsured motorist.

In contending that the non-resident minor is an indispensable party, Continental chiefly relies upon a provision the company could require its insured making claim under the 'uninsured motorist' coverage to join the uninsured motorist as a party defendant. 2

The defendant-appellee through its able counsel persuasively contends that this policy provision is proper and sensible, since the insurer is entitled--both by statute (LSA-R.S. 22:1406D(4)) and by subrogation under the terms of its policy--to recover from the uninsured motorist for sums for which held liable on his behalf. To require his joinder would thus ordinarily prevent a multiplicity of suits to determine the same question (the uninsured motorist's liability to the person insured), as well as prevent possible prejudice to the insurer should the trier of fact in the second or subrogation suit reach a different conclusion as to the negligence of the uninsured motorist or as to the amount of damages for which he was liable.

Nevertheless, when as here the uninsured motorist is a non-resident over whom Louisiana has no personal jurisdiction, the clause prevents a suit in Louisiana courts to enforce a claim upon this Louisiana-issued policy. To this extent, the clause is void, for the condition violates the statutory prohibition of LSA-R.S. 22:629 that no insurance policy issued or delivered in this state covering Louisiana residents shall contain any condition depriving the courts of this state of the jurisdiction of actions against the insurer. 3

For similar reasons, our courts have declared void a clause under the uninsured motorist coverage by which the insurer attempted to reserve the right to compel compulsory arbitration of claims arising under the coverage. Spillman v. United States Fidelity & G. Co., La .App. 3 Cir., 179 So.2d 455; Macaluso v. Watson, La.App. 4 Cir., 171 So.2d 755.

The statute incorporates a public policy determination that no contract issued in Louisiana covering a Louisiana subject shall deny the Louisiana insured the benefit of a practical remedy in Louisiana courts, thus prohibiting a requirement that he litigate his claim in an inconvenient foreign forum or submit to its adjudication by some private tribunal. The statute's command must be enforced, by reason of which the policy condition is void as violating the statutory prohibition. 4

Absent any requirement of such a clause, 5 the claim under the coverage can be...

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10 cases
  • Indiana Ins. Co. v. Noble, 569A84
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Indiana
    • December 30, 1970
    ...... (Debose), Sup., 226 N.Y.S.2d 16 (1960); and State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co. v. Matlock, Tex.Civ.App., 446 S.W.2d 81 (1969). See also Lawrence v. Continental Ins. Co., La.App., 199 So.2d 398 (1967). . 2. He may file an action joining both the uninsured motorist and the insurance company as ......
  • Al Copeland Invs., LLC v. First Specialty Ins. Corp., CIVIL ACTION NO. 16-16346 SECTION: "G"(5)
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Louisiana)
    • June 29, 2017
    ...S.Ct. at 582). 36. Id. at 18. 37. Id. at 18-19. 38. Id. at 20. 39. Rec. Doc. 16 at 4. 40. Id. at 4-6 (citing Lawrence v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 199 So.2d 398 (La. Ct. App. 1967); Bonura v. United Bankers Life Ins. Co., 509 So.2d 8 (La. Ct. App. 1987); Krueger v. Tabor, 546 So.2d 1317 (La. Ct. App......
  • Vernon Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Matney, 1--1075A186
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Indiana
    • July 15, 1976
    ...... (Debose), (Sup.) 226 N.Y.S.2d 16 (1960); and State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Matlock, Tex.Civ.App., 446 S.W.2d 81 (1969). See also Lawrence v. Continental Ins. Co., La.App., 199 So.2d 398 (1967). 2. He may file an action joining both the uninsured motorist and the insurance company as ......
  • American States Ins. Co. v. Williams, 871A156
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Indiana
    • February 8, 1972
    ...... (Debose), Sup., 226 N.Y.S.2d 16 (1960), and State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co. v. Matlock, Tex.Civ.App., 446 S.W.2d 81 (1969). See also Lawrence v. Continental Ins. Co., La.App., 199 So.2d 398 (1967). 2. He may file an action joining both the uninsured motorist and the insurance company as ......
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