Watters v. Travel Guard Intern.

• Decision Date: 18 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. ED 83081.,No. ED 83066.,ED 83066.,ED 83081.
• Citation: 136 S.W.3d 100
• Parties: Doris WATTERS, Appellant/Cross-Respondent, v. TRAVEL GUARD INTERNATIONAL, Respondent/Cross-Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

136 S.W.3d 100

Doris WATTERS, Appellant/Cross-Respondent, v. TRAVEL GUARD INTERNATIONAL, Respondent/Cross-Appellant.

No. ED 83066.

No. ED 83081.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Division Three.

May 18, 2004.

Russell F. Watters, St. Louis, for appellant.

Neal W. Settergren, St. Louis, for respondent.

LAWRENCE E. MOONEY, Judge.

In this action for recovery of an amount due under a travel-insurance policy, the trial court found coverage under the policy and granted summary judgment in favor of the insured, Mrs. Watters, awarding her the amount of her airfare that the insurer, Travel Guard International, had previously denied. The trial court, however, also granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer on Mrs. Watters's vexatious-refusal-to-pay claim. Lastly, the trial court denied prejudgment interest on Mrs. Watters's breach-of-contract claim. Both parties appeal. We find that both summary judgments were properly granted, but find that the court erred in denying Mrs. Watters prejudgment interest. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed in part, and reversed in part.; the cause is remanded with instructions.

Factual and Procedural Background

The material facts are largely undisputed. Mrs. Watters purchased a package trip to Ireland as part of a group tour. The trip included roundtrip airfare to Ireland, accommodations, sightseeing opportunities, guided tours, and some meals. Mrs. Watters also purchased a trip insurance policy from Travel Guard. This policy provided, in pertinent part, that in the event of a trip cancellation or interruption due to a covered reason,¹ Travel Guard would pay for "... unused prepaid payments...."

Mrs. Watters arrived at the St. Louis airport on the scheduled date of departure. Mrs. Watters did not have a direct flight from St. Louis to Ireland; rather, she was scheduled to fly from St. Louis to Newark, New Jersey, where she was then to catch a connecting flight to Ireland. Due to weather conditions, however, her scheduled flight to Newark was delayed for eight hours. Mrs. Watters avers that she and the other tour members informed the airline that, because of the delay, they would miss their connecting flight to Ireland. She further avers that the airline requested that she board the plane for Newark and advised her that, if she did not board the plane, she would forfeit her deposit for the trip. Whatever the conversations between Mrs. Watters and the airline, it is undisputed that Mrs. Watters boarded the plane bound for Newark.

Upon her arrival in Newark, Mrs. Watters avers that she indeed discovered that her Ireland vacation had to be canceled because she had missed her connecting flight and was advised that there would not be another flight to Ireland for several days, such that she would miss several days of the package tour. Mrs. Watters spent the night at the Newark airport and returned to St. Louis the next day.

After her return to St. Louis, Mrs. Watters submitted a claim to Travel Guard for the entire cost of her canceled trip. Travel Guard, however, did not reimburse Mrs. Watters for the entire cost of her trip. Rather, Travel Guard refunded only $1,757 of the $2,202 Mrs. Watters paid for the trip. The amount not reimbursed included $346, the price of the roundtrip airline tickets between St. Louis and Newark.² In providing partial reimbursement, Travel Guard explained that the policy only covered "pre-paid, unused arrangements" for trips that are interrupted, and that the airfare that was used could not be reimbursed.

Mrs. Watters filed suit against Travel Guard for breach of contract, seeking actual damages for the portion of her claim that was denied. Mrs. Watters also claimed vexatious refusal to pay, and sought prejudgment interest and attorneys' fees. Travel Guard moved for summary judgment on both the breach-of-contract and the vexatious-refusal-to-pay claims. Mrs. Watters thereafter moved for partial summary judgment on her breach-of-contract claim only. The trial court granted summary judgment for Mrs. Watters on her breach-of-contract claim, awarding her $346, plus court costs. The court, however, also granted summary judgment for Travel Guard on the vexatious-refusal-to-pay claim. Lastly, the court denied prejudgment interest on Mrs. Watters's breach-of-contract claim. Both parties now appeal. Mrs. Watters appeals the court's denial of vexatious-refusal-to-pay penalties, as well as the court's denial of prejudgment interest; Travel Guard cross-appeals the court's decision finding coverage under the policy.

Discussion

Jurisdiction

Before addressing the parties' various allegations of error, we must first address our jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Travel Guard has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction, contending this Court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal because it involves a judgment of an associate circuit court in a case involving less than $3,000 in claimed damages. Thus, Travel Guard argues, pursuant to section 512.180 RSMo. (2000)³, this Court is without jurisdiction and Mrs. Watters's exclusive remedy was to request a trial de novo in the circuit court.

The right to appeal is purely statutory; where a statute provides no right to appeal, none exists. Cammarata v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Companies, 953 S.W.2d 160, 161 (Mo. App. E.D.1997). An appeal without statutory sanction confers no authority upon this Court except to enter an order dismissing the appeal. Prosser v. Derickson, 1 S.W.3d 608, 609 (Mo.App. W.D.1999). Section 512.180 governs the right to appeal from cases tried before an associate circuit court judge. Id; McClain v. Stoddard County Sewer Co., 2 S.W.3d 162, 163 (Mo. App. S.D.1999). Section 512.180.1 provides:

Any person aggrieved by a judgment in a civil case tried without a jury before an associate circuit judge, other than an associate circuit judge sitting in the probate division or who has been assigned to hear the case on the record under procedures applicable before circuit judges, shall have the right of a trial de novo in all cases where the pleading claims damages not to exceed three thousand dollars.

Only where the case does not fit this description may a party appeal directly to this Court. Cammarata, 953 S.W.2d at 161; Prosser, 1 S.W.3d at 609. Section 512.180.2 provides that a person has the right to appeal to this Court in (1) a contested civil case, not described in section 512.180.1, tried with or without a jury before an associate circuit judge, or (2) a contested civil case tried on assignment by an associate circuit judge under procedures applicable before circuit judges, or (3) any misdemeanor or county ordinance violation case. Federated Mortgage & Investment Company v. Jones, 850 S.W.2d 113, 114 (Mo.App. W.D.1993).

In this case, Mrs. Watters's case was initially assigned to Division 27, a division of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis presided over by an associate circuit court judge. But, because she requested a jury trial, her case was subsequently transferred and heard in Division 29, also a division presided over by an associate circuit court judge. Local Rule 6.3 of the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit provides that if any party to a contest pending in Division 27 requests a jury trial, the case is assigned to Division 29 and tried on the record under circuit court rules. Thus, because judgment in this case was rendered by an associate circuit court judge who had been assigned to hear the case under the procedures applicable before circuit court judges, under section 512.180.1, Mrs. Watters had the right to appeal to this Court, which she invoked by filing a timely notice of appeal. Accordingly, Travel Guard's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction is denied.⁴

Summary Judgment

We now turn our discussion to the propriety of summary judgment in this case, beginning with Travel Guard's cross-appeal of summary judgment granted in favor of Mrs. Watters on her breach-of-contract claim, wherein the court found coverage under the policy for the roundtrip airfare to New Jersey. Our review of the trial court's grant of summary judgment is essentially de novo. ITT Commercial Finance Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). When considering appeals from summary judgment, we review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. Id. Facts set forth by affidavit or otherwise in support of a party's motion are taken as true unless contradicted by the non-moving party's response to the summary-judgment motion. Id. Summary judgment is proper only in those situations where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 74.04; ITT Commercial Finance Corp., 854 S.W.2d at 377.

The trial court in this case granted summary judgment in favor of Mrs. Watters on her breach-of-contract claim, finding coverage under the policy for the St. Louis—Newark roundtrip airline tickets. The insurance policy states, in pertinent part, that in the event of a trip interruption due to a covered reason, the policy of insurance will pay for "unused prepaid payments or deposits for the Insured's trip...."⁵ Travel Guard alleges the trial court erred in finding coverage because the policy only covers "unused" prepaid payments or deposits. Travel Guard posits that coverage does not exist under the policy for the tickets because they are not "unused," because Mrs. Watters flew from St. Louis to Newark, and back. Mrs. Watters, on the other hand, contends that she did not use any portion of her trip—which was a trip to Ireland, not New Jersey— because she purchased a package trip to Ireland, not New Jersey. She further argues that she did not get her trip to Ireland, and received no benefit or advantage or enjoyment in traveling to and from New Jersey. She contends the meaning of the term `used,' as would be understood by an...