Lloyd v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

• Citation: 176 Ariz. 247,860 P.2d 1300
• Decision Date: 27 November 1992
• Docket Number: No. 1,CA-CV,1
• Parties: Virginia M. LLOYD and Willie Lee Lloyd, individually and as wife and husband, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Defendant-Appellee. 91-0017.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Arizona

Page 1300

860 P.2d 1300

176 Ariz. 247

Virginia M. LLOYD and Willie Lee Lloyd, individually and as wife and husband, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CV 91-0017.

Court of Appeals of Arizona Division 1, Department C.

Nov. 27, 1992.

Reconsideration Denied Jan. 14, 1993.

Petition and Cross-Petition for

Review Denied Nov. 4, 1993.

[176 Ariz. 248] Jennings, Strouss & Salmon by Gary L. Stuart, Jay A. Fradkin, James M. Ackerman, Phoenix, for appellants.

O'Connor, Cavanagh, Anderson, Westover, Killingsworth & Beshears, P.A. by Ralph E. Hunsaker, Frank M. Fox, Christopher Robbins, Phoenix, for appellee.

OPINION

GERBER, Judge.

The main issue we are asked to determine in this appeal is the liability of an insurance company for assuming a defense when no policy coverage truly existed. In summary, we hold that an insurer's voluntary assumption of the duty to defend may give rise to a cause of action for derelictions in that defense even when there is no actual coverage.

FACTS

On April 12, 1986, Virginia Lloyd was struck by a midget race car while in the pit area at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. She suffered massive injuries resulting in quadriplegia. The car was partly owned by George and Sharon Lane.

The Lanes had an automobile policy with State Farm for their Cadillac as well as a homeowners policy with State Farm Fire & Casualty. They purchased both policies through the same State Farm agent. They did not attempt to obtain insurance coverage on the midget car. They knew they had no insurance on it, and they understood that they could not get coverage for it because it was a race car.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Lloyds filed suit against the Lanes. Mr. Lane was served with the summons and complaint on November 10, 1987. He ignored the service, thinking the papers were from a previous suit in which he was not a party. On December 28, 1987, the Lloyds filed an application for entry of default against the Lanes. They sent a copy of the default application to the Lanes and to State Farm, both of whom received their copies on December 29, 1987. The default was to be effective January 12, 1988.

Upon receiving the application for default, Mr. Lane called the Lloyds' attorney who advised him to call his insurer. Lane then called his State Farm agent, who in turn advised him to call the State Farm claims department. Lane contends that he called the claims department no later than January 1, 1988 regarding the default. He testified that somebody told him over the telephone that State Farm would "take care of it." Lane said that he took these words to mean that State Farm would take care of the case, including the pending default, and that he need do nothing further.

For its part, State Farm challenges Lane's statement that he spoke with anyone in the State Farm office. It maintains that its policy is to turn potential default situations over to an attorney immediately. However, it took no legal steps regarding the pending default. The default against Lane became effective on January 12, 1988, well before an answer was filed.

Ten days later, on January 22, 1988, State Farm hired attorney Robert Beltz to defend the Lanes. State Farm sent the Lanes a reservation of rights letter for the first time on January 28, 1988, and a second letter on February 16, 1988, advising the Lanes that it had hired Beltz to represent them but still reserved the right to deny coverage. The letter also stated that State Farm would begin its investigation into whether coverage existed. This letter warned the Lanes that there was a possibility of judgment in excess of coverage and that they could employ their own attorney to look after their personal interests. State Farm also simultaneously informed Beltz that it was reserving its rights and that, after it investigated, it would advise him of its decision on coverage.

Beltz filed an answer on the Lanes' behalf on January 27, 1988, thinking that he had an understanding with the Lloyds' attorney that the Lloyds would not enforce the default. On April 22, 1988, Beltz filed a motion to set aside the January 12 default, which the trial court eventually denied on July 20, 1988.

In its investigation of coverage, State Farm did not contact the Lanes but acquired its information from Beltz. Beltz wrote a detailed letter to State Farm on April 13, 1988, informing State Farm that he had received substantial portions of the discovery in a prior suit. He summarized Mr. Lane's deposition from that case, including the fact that "[s]ometime prior to April 12, 1986, he [Lane] sold one-half interest in a midget racer to the Randalls."

Meanwhile, on April 8, 1988, the Lloyds' attorney served on Beltz a settlement demand for the amount of any insurance policy. The offer was made to expire May 8, 1988. The parties conceded that this was, in essence, an offer to settle for $50,000. Beltz forwarded this offer to State Farm on April 13, noting that this was his first indication that the Lloyds planned to enforce the default.

Neither Beltz nor State Farm sent a copy of this settlement demand to the Lanes. Beltz did not do so immediately because he had not yet communicated with the Lanes and had been unable to contact Mr. Lane. Beltz did eventually discuss the settlement letter with the Lanes on a date not later than April 22, 1988. The extent of their discussion is unknown.

State Farm contemporaneously sought the advice of independent counsel who suggested three possible courses of action: (1) settle for $50,000; (2) file a declaratory judgment action; or (3) move to set aside the default. On April 22, 1988, the State Farm claim committee recommended that State Farm formally deny the claim because it concluded that there was in fact no coverage.

On May 6, 1988, State Farm rejected the $50,000 settlement demand and instructed Beltz to withdraw and simultaneously advised the Lanes to obtain their own counsel. The Lanes received this letter after the May 8, 1988 expiration of the Lloyds' $50,000 settlement demand.

On July 20, 1988, the trial court denied Beltz's motion to set aside the default. The result was that the Lloyds took default judgment against the Lanes in the amount of $10,000,000 plus costs. The Lanes eventually assigned to the Lloyds their rights against State Farm. The Lloyds and Lanes then filed suit against State Farm.

The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment on issues related to assumption of the duty to defend. The court granted State Farm's motion and denied the plaintiffs' motion. The Lloyds appealed; the Lanes withdrew their appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. ("A.R.S.") § 12-2101(B).

ISSUES RAISED

The Lloyds raise the following issues on appeal:

1. Did State Farm assume a duty to defend the Lanes in the Lloyd vs. Lane lawsuit?

2. Did State Farm breach the duty to defend?

3. If State Farm breached the duty to defend, to what damages would the Lanes have been entitled?

4. Was State Farm guilty of bad faith in its defense of the Lanes?

5. Is State Farm estopped to deny coverage?

We address only those issues which are dispositive of this appeal.

I. Assumption of Duty to Defend

The Lloyds concede, with State Farm, that the Lanes' automobile policy did not in fact cover the accident which injured Mrs. Lloyd. The Lloyds assert that State Farm nonetheless assumed a duty to defend the Lanes when the unknown claims person in the State Farm office told Mr. Lane over the telephone that State Farm would "take care of it" and by shortly thereafter hiring Beltz to represent the Lanes. State Farm does not dispute the presence of evidence sufficient for a trier of fact to find that it had assumed the Lane defense. Instead, it asserts that as a matter of law it can have no liability for assumption of a duty to defend in the absence of an insurance policy covering the accident. It asserts, further, that no negligence action lies against an insurer for assuming a duty to defend when, as here, there is in fact no coverage at all.

The law is contrary to State Farm's position. When a person voluntarily undertakes an act, even when there is no legal duty to do so, that person must perform the assumed duty with due care and is liable for any lack of due care in performing it. See, e.g., Thompson v. Sun City Community Hospital, 141 Ariz. 597, 608, 688 P.2d 605, 616 (1984); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 323 (1965). This doctrine is neither new nor unusual. The Restatement states:

One who undertakes, gratuitously or for consideration, to render services to another which he should recognize as necessary for the protection of the other's person or things, is subject to liability to the other for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to perform his undertaking, if

(a) His failure to exercise such care increases the risk of such harm, or

(b) The harm is suffered because of the other's reliance upon the undertaking.

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 323. Section 323 has been adopted in Arizona. See, e.g., Thompson v. Sun City Community Hospital, 141 Ariz. at 608, 688 P.2d at 616 (1984); Barnum v. Rural Fire Protection Co., 24 Ariz.App. 233, 238, 537 P.2d 618, 623 (1975). The volunteer may be liable for economic harm as well as physical harm. See McCutchen v. Hill, 147 Ariz. 401, 404, 710 P.2d 1056, 1059 (1985). No language in § 323 or elsewhere exempts an insurance company from this standard doctrine regarding gratuitous assumption of duty.

State Farm argues that no court has ever held an insurer liable for its defense when there was no valid coverage for the claim. It asserts that the California Supreme Court did not so hold in Travelers Ins. Co. v. Lesher, 187 Cal.App.3d 169, 231 Cal.Rptr. 791 (1986) and that Petersen v. Farmers Casualty Co., 226 N.W.2d 226 (Iowa 1975), is premised on a valid insurance policy.

We find these interpretations...