Allstate Insurance v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

WILNER, Judge. It is common, indeed universal, for automobile insurance policies to contain clauses that require an insured who is involved in an accident to cooperate with the company in the investigation and resolution of any claim made against the insured. In the case at bar, the policy, issued by petitioner State Farm Insurance Company to Latricia Kirby, required Ms. Kirby, among other things, to “cooperate with us and, when asked, assist us in: a. making settlements; b. securing and giving evidence; [and] c. attending and getting witnesses to attend hearings and trials.” Kirby was involved in an automobile accident and, eventually, two claims were made against her. Although she initially cooperated with the insurer, her cooperation was short-lived.

As a direct consequence of her subsequent lack of cooperation, State Farm was precluded from defending the claims, and a judgment in the amount of $150,000 was entered against Kirby. Maryland Code, § 19-110 of the Insurance Article permits an insurer to disclaim coverage on the ground that the insured has breached the policy by failing to cooperate with the insurer only if the insurer establishes that the lack of cooperation has resulted in actual prejudice to the insurer. The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County found that State Farm was actually prejudiced, but only to the extent of half of the judgment, and that it could therefore disclaim only to that extent. The Court of Special Appeals concluded that, on the record in this case, State Farm was excused from paying the entire judgment.

State Farm, v. Gregorie, 131 Md.App. 317 , 748 A.2d 1089 (2000). BACKGROUND The accident at issue occurred shortly after midnight on February 10, 1994, on the Capital Beltway, near its intersection with Kenilworth Avenue. It had snowed heavily during ¹⁰⁹ the day and many of the side roads were snow-covered. There was a dispute as to the precise condition of the Beltway.

In a statement given to State Farm four days after the accident, Kirby said that she was traveling about 50-55 miles per hour and was “worried about the ice that was on the road,” when she was hit from the rear. The car that struck her was being driven by Mark Winston. Corazon Gregorie, the owner of that car, was in the front passenger seat. Because she did not like to drive in the snow, Gregorie had asked Winston, her boyfriend, to drive.

Kirby said that she was watching the road and did not see the Gregorie vehicle prior to the collision. She assumed that Mr. Winston was going too fast. Some of what Kirby said in her report was disputed by other witnesses, who were not in complete agreement with one another. The police report stated that the road was wet, but not icy.

Gregorie said the road was dry; Winston said that it was damp. In deposition testimony, Gregorie said that Winston was going about 55 miles per hour in the third lane of traffic — the same lane in which Kirby was driving. She described the accident: “We were approaching the Kenilworth Avenue exit, that is the exit that we take when we want to go home. There was a dark car in front of us.

It had no lights. I noticed this, and it was also going very slow. Mr. Winston was not reacting to this car. I had seen the car, and he was not reacting.

And at the point that I thought he should be maneuvering or braking, he wasn’t. So at that point, I said look out — something to that effect, or watch out, look out— at which point, he braked.” The braking was too late. Winston stated in deposition that he was in the second, not the third lane, about 100 yards from the beginning of the Kenilworth Avenue exit ramp, and was preparing to move into the slow lane to get on to the exit ramp when he heard Gregorie tell him to watch out. He had been momentarily distracted, as he turned his head to the right to keep track of ¹¹⁰ a car traveling in the right lane just behind him.

He had just sped up a bit to be able to slide into the right lane ahead of that car when he heard Gregorie’s warning. Winston said that he had been driving about 55 miles an hour when he hit the brakes. He stated that he had not noticed Kirby’s car before then. In contrast to Gregorie, Winston said that he saw brake lights and believed that Kirby had on her headlights as well.

Kirby was driving, he said, at a very low rate of speed. The only independent witness in the case, Linda Weiner, was driving just behind Winston, in the second lane, at about 55 miles per hour. In a statement given to State Farm several weeks after the accident, she said that she observed Kirby’s car, that it was proceeding very slowly, and perhaps was even stopped, and that its hazard lights were on. She did not recall any problem with ice on the road.

Sensing the imminence of a collision between Winston and Kirby, she pulled immediately to the right and was just able to avoid a collision herself. Based on the witness statements taken from Kirby and Weiner, State Farm concluded that, as Kirby had been rear-ended, there was no liability on her part. The litigation began in January, 1995, when Gregorie filed suit against Winston in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, seeking $1 million in damages. She claimed that he failed to maintain a proper lookout, to yield the right of way, to operate his vehicle at a safe speed, to maintain a safe distance between his vehicle and the one in front, and otherwise to operate the vehicle safely and in accordance with traffic regulations.

Winston’s negligent and reckless operation of the vehicle, she averred, directly and proximately resulted in the collision and caused her injury. Kirby then filed suit against Winston to recover damages for her injuries. That complaint does not seem to be in the record, but we assume that, in similar fashion to Gregorie’s complaint, it claimed that Winston was negligent in various respects and that his negligence caused the collision. ¹¹¹ Winston then sued Kirby; he filed a third-party complaint against her in the action filed by Gregorie and a counterclaim in Kirby’s action. In his third-party complaint, he denied all allegations of wrongdoing and asserted that the accident was caused by the “sole and/or contributory negligence” on the part of Kirby, in that she was operating her car on a 55 mile per hour road at night at a greatly reduced rate of speed, without proper headlights or tail lights, and without proper warning to traffic behind her.

The counterclaim is not in the record, but we assume it was consistent with the third-party complaint and are informed that it sought contribution and indemnification. To complete the circle, Gregorie then filed an amended complaint, in which she added Kirby as a defendant. Though continuing to maintain that Winston was negligent, Gregorie asserted that Kirby was also negligent in operating her vehicle at a low speed and without displaying proper lighting. The two actions (CAL 95-551 and CAL 95-2881) were consolidated.

In her capacity as a plaintiff, Kirby was represented by William Dawe, III, Esq. When apprised of the actions against her — the suit by Gregorie and the third-party claim and counterclaim by Winston — State Farm retained Richard McBurrows, Esq., to represent her as a defendant. McBur-rows filed an answer on her behalf to the amended complaint and to Winston’s counterclaim and, on February 23, 1996, sent her a letter of representation. The problem that led to what is now before us is that, at some point while this was transpiring, Kirby got married, moved to Decatur, Georgia, and washed her hands entirely of the matter.

McBurrows’ letter of February 23 and a follow-up letter of March 6 that were sent to her Maryland address were returned. On May 14, 1996, having learned of her new address in Georgia, he advised her of a deposition scheduled for June 10, and received a reply that she would not be attending. In fact, she did not appear for her deposition, either in June, when it was first scheduled, or in October, when it was rescheduled. Several further attempts to reschedule the deposition were unsuccessful.

She failed to respond to letters from McBurrows in ¹¹² November and December. Interrogatories and a demand for documents filed by Gregorie and interrogatories filed by Winston also went unanswered. Dawe was having the same problem and, on December 2, 1996, he moved to strike his appearance. In his motion, he said that he had spoken with Kirby in June and that she “doubted that she wanted to pursue the action.” On December 20, the court granted his motion.

Ten days later, State Farm’s Claim Superintendent wrote to Kirby, admonishing her that, if she continued to ignore requests for assistance, State Farm may refuse to protect her and she may be liable for any judgment rendered against her. On January 20,1997, McBurrows wrote to her, confirming that, if she continued to withhold her cooperation, judgment would be taken against her and she would be responsible personally. That letter, sent by certified mail, was returned unclaimed. In February, 1997, Gregorie and Winston each filed a motion for discovery sanctions, noting Kirby’s refusal to respond to discovery and the fact that trial was 'scheduled for May 29, 1997.

They asked that Kirby be barred from opposing their claims and prohibited from offering any evidence at trial. McBurrows opposed the motions and asked for additional time. The court responded initially by dismissing Kirby’s lawsuit and giving her until May 6, 1997 to respond to all outstanding discovery requests. State Farm wrote to her, by regular and certified mail, on February 14, March 5, April 7, and April 11 requesting that she contact McBurrows; the certified letters were returned unclaimed.

State Farm also employed an investigator who, at various times, left messages for Kirby with her father, her sisters, her husband, and her employer, and had letters physically delivered to her home in Georgia, all to no avail. After 15 to 20 attempts, he was finally able to speak directly to Kirby, who, on two occasions, promised to contact State Farm or McBurrows but never did so. On May 6, 1997, the court entered an order precluding Kirby from introducing any evidence concerning the circumstances surrounding the accident. ¹¹³ At some point, the court bifurcated the remaining case— Gregorie v. Winston and Kirby —and set trial on the issue of liability for May 29, 1997. State Farm sent a letter to Kirby on May 7, 1997, advising her of the trial date and informing her that State Farm would pay the travel, food, and lodging expenses for her to attend trial.

An additional letter was sent on May 22, 1997, informing her, among other things, that, despite the preclusion order, the plaintiff “has indicated a willingness to allow you to present evidence at the May 29, 1997 trial if you appear to testify in this matter.” Kirby nonetheless failed either to respond to the letter or to attend trial. The only witnesses at trial were Gregorie and Winston. McBurrows was present and was permitted to cross-examine the witnesses and argue to the jury, but, in accordance with the pre-trial order, he offered no affirmative evidence regarding the accident. The jury was thus left with essentially uncontradicted evidence that Kirby was traveling either very slowly or had stopped, late at night, on a clear, dry, or slightly damp beltway, either without lights or with only a “flicker” of light.

Weiner’s statement, that she observed hazard lights and that she was able to see Kirby’s car, was not before the jury. After a short deliberation, the jury concluded that Kirby was negligent and that Winston was not. McBurrows filed a motion for judgment N.O.Y. and for new trial, which was denied. In July, 1997, prior to the trial on damages, Gregorie filed a declaratory judgment action against State Farm and her own insurer, Allstate Insurance Company, averring that (1) on the basis of Kirby’s failure to cooperate, State Farm had refused to accept the jury’s determination of liability and had taken the position that there was no coverage for her, and (2) Allstate had declined to afford uninsured motorist coverage under its policy on the ground that State Farm was not entitled to deny coverage to Kirby because it could not show any actual prejudice resulting from Kirby’s failure to cooperate.

Gregorie asked that the court determine the parties’ respective rights under the two policies and declare either that State Farm was liable under its policy or that Allstate was ¹¹⁴ liable for uninsured motorist benefits under its policy. State Farm then filed its own complaint for declaratory judgment, in which it averred that Kirby had a meritorious defense to Gregorie’s action and likely would have prevailed had she cooperated and that, as a result of her failure to cooperate, she had breached the obligations of the policy. It asked for a judgment declaring that State Farm therefore had no duty to defend the claim or indemnify Kirby. Allstate answered both complaints and asserted that (1) State Farm was not prejudiced by Kirby’s lack of cooperation, and (2) it failed to use proper care to obtain and assure her cooperation.

Allstate also filed a cross-claim against Kirby for indemnification. The two declaratory judgment actions were consolidated with each other and with the underlying tort action. At trial in the declaratory judgment case, State Farm produced evidence of the many efforts it had made — 84 within a six-month period — to contact Kirby and obtain her cooperation, including an offer to pay her travel, lodging, and food expenses to come to Maryland for the trial. On the issue of prejudice, it introduced the transcript of the May 29 trial on liability and the evidence that it would have produced at that trial but for the preclusion order.

That evidence consisted of police and weather reports, photographs of Kirby’s vehicle showing the extensive damage to the rear, and Kirby’s and Weiner’s recorded statements. It also produced the live testimony of Weiner who, as in her deposition, said that the Gregorie vehicle was traveling at 55-60 miles per hour and that, even from her position behind that vehicle, she could see Kirby’s car and that it had hazard lights flashing. The court, sitting without a jury, determined as a fact that State Farm had made ample effort to obtain Kirby’s cooperation, that Kirby had failed to cooperate and thus breached her contractual obligation under the policy, and that State Farm was prejudiced by not being allowed to produce evidence. In that last regard, the court noted Ms. Weiner’s testimony that she saw light from the Kirby vehicle and that the vehicle may have been traveling at about 20 miles per hour.

It mentioned as well Kirby’s initial statement that she was going about 55 ¹¹⁵ miles an hour, and, notwithstanding that there was no such proffer, it pondered whether State Farm, but for the preclusion order, may have been able to produce an accident reconstruction expert to opine as to how fast Kirby was traveling. “At a minimum” the court found, State Farm was prejudiced in that “Mr. Winston’s liability as a co-defendant would have been substantially increased and the likelihood of a joint judgment against Ms. Kirby and Mr. Winston was fairly high.” (Emphasis added). It iterated later in its oral opinion that, “[h]ad Ms. Weiner testified in this case, just that single witness, it is more than probable, when one reads the transcript, that at least a co-defendant liability would have occurred.” (Emphasis added). The court concluded that “[tjhere is more than a substantial likelihood that the insured would not have been found solely liable for this motor vehicle accident” and “therefore State Farm has been prejudiced as a result of Ms. Kirby’s non-cooperation.” (Emphasis added). The court announced that it would prepare and sign an order declaring that State Farm was not obligated to defend or indemnify Kirby for the claims presented by Gregorie and severing Gregorie’s case from the declaratory judgment actions.

Counsel for Allstate then observed that “[i]f the less favorable result, that State Farm suffered by Ms. Kirby’s noncooperation is joint liability, then it would appear that the damages that had been suffered by State Farm is some pro rata share of the verdict. Otherwise, State Farm, with the non-cooperation finds itself in a better position than they would have been in had Ms. Kirby cooperated.” The court responded that it intended to enter the judgment as it had announced, but that the parties could present that issue through a motion for reconsideration. The next day, the court entered a written order that (1) recited that it had issued an “Oral Opinion holding that State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is not obligated to defend or indemnify [Kirby] for the claims and/or causes of action presented by [Gregorie] as advanced in CAL 95-00551,” (2) severed Grego-rie’s case, which had yet to be tried on damages, from the declaratory judgment actions, and (3) lifted the stay that had ¹¹⁶ been entered in Gregorie’s case and ordered trial on the damages issue in that case. Nothing was said in the order about any liability on the part of Allstate.

Allstate did, indeed, file a motion for reconsideration, and it was granted. In a written memorandum and order filed on May 3, 1999, the court, preliminarily, noted that “[n]o one can contend seriously that Kirby’s lack of PreTrial assistance or testimony at trial will affect Gregorie’s damage verdict” and concluded that it was not premature to resolve the issue raised by Allstate prior to a damage award. In determining the extent of State Farm’s prejudice, however, it said that, given what it regarded as the closeness of the case, it could, sitting in place of the jury, “consider as to what evidence would have been admissible at trial and what result would have occurred had this evidence been introduced in the liability trial.” In so doing, the court determined that Kirby’s statement that she was proceeding at 55 miles per hour was “suspect,” and it found as a fact that she was traveling at only 20 miles per hour or less. That, it said, was evidence of negligence.

The court acknowledged that it did not know why Kirby was driving so slowly and asked, rhetorically: “Was there a sudden mechanical failure? Was Kirby experiencing some illness that caused her to slow or stop? Did Kirby see some ice or snow that other witnesses overlooked? Had Kirby slowed to avoid a collision with another motor vehicle or animal or object on or near the Beltway?” The court said that it was convinced, by a preponderance of the evidence, that, had Kirby cooperated, Winston would also have been found negligent.

It based that determination on the fact that Winston was driving at 55-60 miles an hour, glancing in his rear view mirror and over his right shoulder for “an appreciable length of time,” that Gregorie saw the Kirby vehicle two to three seconds before he did, that Winston’s testimony that the Kirby vehicle had no lights on “is not persuasive” in light of Weiner’s testimony, and that “[h]ad Winston looked to see that which was plainly there to be seen, he would have seen the Kirby vehicle at least at the same time ¹¹⁷ that Gregorie did.” Citing Fid. & Cas. Co. v. McConnaughy, 228 Md. 1 , 179 A.2d 117 (1962), the court determined that the appropriate remedy was to grant the motion for reconsideration and to hold “that State Farm’s actual prejudice is limited to the value of its loss of the Right of Contribution from Winston, that is to say responsibility for fifty percent (50%) of Gregorie’s damages up to the limits of State Farm’s liability coverage on the Kirby vehicle.” The order, which constituted the last three paragraphs of the memorandum, simply stated that the motion for reconsideration was granted “and the Oral Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities is amended in accordance with this decision.” 1 On May 20, 1999, the issue of damages in the underlying tort action was tried before a jury and resulted in a verdict in favor of Gregorie in the amount of $150,000. Application of ¹¹⁸ the declaratory judgment to that verdict meant that, given the policy limit of $100,000, State Farm retained liability for $75,000 of the judgment entered for Gregorie. On State Farm’s appeal, the Court of Special Appeals agreed that the insurer was actually prejudiced by Kirby’s non-cooperation but, in a split decision, disagreed with the trial court’s analysis of what might have occurred if Kirby had acted differently and cooperated.

The approach of essentially retrying the case on the evidence it assumed would have been offered, the court said, “requires speculation about the missing testimony, and how a fact-finder would react to same.” State Farm v. Gregorie, supra, 131 Md.App. at 335 , 748 A.2d at 1099 . The trial court, it held, had insufficient information about Kirby’s potential testimony to determine whether she would have been declared negligent had she testified. Accordingly, the appellate court held that Kirby’s failure to cooperate “relieves [State Farm] of any liability on the underlying claim.” Id. The court’s mandate, however, was simply to reverse the Circuit Court’s judgment and not to remand the case for entry of a proper declaratory judgment.

We granted Allstate’s petition for certiorari to consider (1) the correct legal standard for determining the actual prejudice that an insurer must establish under § 19-110 of the Insurance Article in order to disclaim coverage by reason of an insured’s failure to cooperate, and (2) whether, when an insurer establishes some amount of actual prejudice, it may disclaim all coverage or only such coverage as is proportionate to the prejudice shown. Implicit in the second question is whether, even if the general answer to that question is that the disclaimer may be limited to the amount of prejudice shown, the Court of Special Appeals made a substantive error in its resolution of this ease. DISCUSSION As we noted, it is common for automobile insurance policies to require that an insured who is involved in an accident cooperate with the insurer in the investigation and defense of ¹¹⁹ any claim made against the insured. It is also common for such policies to require, as well, that the insured (1) promptly report to the insurer any accident and any claim that is made, and (2) promptly forward to the insurer any suit papers served on the insured.

Insurers traditionally have asserted the violation of any of those several duties — notice, forwarding of suit papers, and cooperation in the defense of the claim — as grounds for disclaiming liability on the policy, either to defend a claim brought against the insured or to indemnify the insured with respect to any judgment entered on the claim. We pointed out in Fid. & Cas. Co. v. McConnaughy, supra, 228 Md. 1 , 179 A.2d 117 , that two lines of authority had developed regarding the nature and effect of those clauses. One line, which we characterized as a “formalistic, technical view,” held that policy provisions for notice, forwarding of suit papers, and cooperation were conditions precedent to liability “and that a breach by the insured discharges the insurer regardless of prejudice .” Id. at 12 , 179 A.2d at 123 .

The competing view was that those provisions were conditions subsequent and that “prejudice must be shown by the insurer, if it is to be absolved.” Id. As a matter of Maryland common law, we did not appear to adopt either view completely. Rather, in a number of cases, we drew distinctions both between the requirements of notice and cooperation and between non-cooperation based on false statements made by the insured and non-cooperation based on the insured’s failure to attend depositions, hearings, or trial, or to assist in giving or obtaining evidence regarding the accident or claim. Unfortunately, when dealing with a failure to cooperate, as opposed to a failure to notify, we did not always make entirely clear whether we viewed non-prejudicial conduct by the insured as not constituting a breach of the policy in the first instance or, even if it were a breach, as not justifying a disclaimer of coverage.

In Indemnity Ins. Co. of N.A. v. Smith, 197 Md. 160 , 78 A.2d 461 (1951), we dealt with a failure to cooperate based on the insured’s disappearance during the litigation, which, in the particular case, we regarded as a wilful failure to attend trial ¹²⁰ and assist in giving and obtaining evidence. The insured had notified the insurer of the accident, forwarded