Have you ever read your insurance policy? You should!

The one at issue in this case specifically excluded the risks the policy was bought to cover.

An event organizer of a 5K Extreme Rampage purchased an insurance policy that specifically excluded coverage for a 5K run with obstacles, mud runs and tough-guy races.

Johnson v. Capitol Specialty Ins. Corp., 2018 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 447

State: Kentucky, Court of Appeals of Kentucky

Plaintiff: Chris Johnson D/B/A Extreme Rampage, and Chris Johnson, and Christopher Johnson, Rampage LLC, Christopher Johnson D/B/A Rampage, LLC, and/or Extreme Rampage, Casey Arnold, Individually and as Administratrix Of the Estate of Chad Arnold, and as Next Friend and Guardian/ Conservator for Miles Arnold, and as Assignee for All Claims Held By "The Johnson Parties

Defendant: Capitol Specialty Insurance Corporation

Plaintiff Claims: negligence; violation of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act and the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act; fraud; and breach of contract

Defendant Defenses:

Holding:

Year: 2018

Summary

Insurance litigation about a claim for an event, service, trip or liability is much costlier and time-consuming than any litigation concerning an injury.

In this case, the event owner and organizer of a mud run obstacle course in Kentucky purchased insurance for the event, which excluded all coverage needed for the event. Effectively, the plaintiff in this case paid for paper that had no value.

The trial courts and the appellate court agreed with the insurance company because the exclusions were in the policy that was available to the insured prior to the event.

Facts

The plaintiff in this appeal created an owned a mud run obstacle course the Extreme Rampage. Johnson the individual created Extreme Rampage LLC, which then organized and ran the event.

The event was a 3K obstacle race, similar if not identical to mud runs, death races, etc., The race was to be held at the Kentucky Horse Park. The horse park required a $1 million-dollar policy covering them.

Johnson contacted an insurance agent over the phone who completed an application and sent it off. A quote was received and accepted. The cost was $477.00, which should have been the first clue; it was too cheap. The only part of the application or proposal that Johnson saw was the “subjectivities page” which stated the policy was to be issued after a list of things were verified. The items to be verified list things as rallies, cattle drives, etc., but did not list obstacle course, running events or the like.

When the policy was issued it contained two exclusions. The first was labeled the sponsor exclusion by the court and stated:

THIS ENDORSEMENT CHANGES THE POLICY. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY

EXCLUSION — ATHLETIC OR SPORTS PARTICIPANTS

This endorsement modifies insurance provided under the following:

COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY COVERAGE PART.

SCHEDULE

Description of Operations:

Special event — 5K run with obstacles.

With respect to any operations shown in the Schedule, this insurance does not apply to "bodily injury" to any person while practicing for or participating in any sports or athletic contest or exhibition that you sponsor.

And the second exclusion labeled by the court as the participant exclusion provided as follows:

THIS ENDORSEMENT CHANGES THE POLICY. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY EXCLUSION — PARTICIPANTS

(SPECIFIED ACTIVITIES/OPERATIONS)

SCHEDULE

Descriptions of Activity/Operations

Mud Runs and Tough Guy Races

This insurance does not apply to "bodily injury," "property damage," "personal or advertising injury" or medical expense arising out of any preparation for or participation in any of the activities or operations shown in the schedule above.

During the race, one of the participants collapsed and died. His wife sued. The insurance company denied coverage. That means the insurance company was not only not going to pay the claim, they were not going to pay for attorneys to defend the case.

The Insurance Company filed a declaratory action. This lawsuit was between Johnson, the policyholder and the insurance company where the insurance company was looking for a ruling stating it had no duty to provide coverage. This is a request for immediate decision from the court on the interpretation of the policy.

Johnson, the insured and Arnold the family of the deceased participant both filed suit against the insurance company. The trial court combined the two lawsuits into one. Both filed motions for summary judgment and the insurance company filed its motion for summary judgment.

After reading the exclusions, the policy only covered spectators at the event. The spectators had to be 100’ from the event so any spectator injured that was closer than 100’ to the event could sue, and Johnson would have no coverage for that claim either. Basically, the policy was a worthless piece of paper for the event.

The trial court granted the insurance companies motion for summary judgment, and this appeal ensued. Both Johnson and the Arnold family appealed.

Analysis: making sense of the law based on these facts.

Insurance policies have their own set of laws. Even though they are contracts, after the contract is formed, new ways of interpreting a policy are created.

One such rule is any ambiguity in the policy will be ruled or interpreted against the insurance company. Since policies are presented as a take it or leave it contract, any mistakes in the contract are ruled so the policy holder wins.

The first claim is a quasi-fraud claim based on the lack of information concerning the exclusions. The court looked at this more as a situation where the event organizer did not read the policy.

Johnson cannot avoid the terms of the insurance contract by pleading ignorance of its contents. It is axiomatic that "insured persons are charged with knowledge of their policy's contents.

Because Johnson signed the policy (? Application not the policy, in reality) Johnson was held to the terms of the policy.

Although Johnson claims, based on his interaction with Delre, that the terms of the policy were not what he had anticipated, no genuine issue of material fact exists that Johnson signed the policy and, as a matter of law, was presumed to know its contents.

The next argument was the insurance agent the event organizer worked with was an agent of the insurance company Capitol. As such, the agents could be liable and the agents could create liability for Capitol. An agency is created when the principal, the insurance company, grants specific authority to the agent.

"Actual authority arises from a direct, intentional granting of specific authority from a principal to an agent." The Restatement (Third) of Agency § 2.02(1) (2006) provides that "[a]n agent has actual authority to take action designated or implied in the principal's manifestations to the agent and acts necessary or incidental to achieving the principal's objectives, as the agent reasonably understands the principal's manifestations and objectives when the agent determines how to act."

However, there was no evidence in the record to show any agency between the insurance sales person and the insurance company, even though the sales person is called an agent.

The next argument was over the language in the policy. The event organizer argued the exclusion should not apply because the term “sponsor” was ambiguous.

Exclusions in insurance contracts are to be narrowly interpreted, and all questions resolved in favor of the insured. Exceptions and exclusions are to be strictly construed so as to render the insurance effective. Any doubt as to the coverage or terms of a policy should be resolved in favor of the insured. And since the policy is drafted in all details by the insurance company, it must be held strictly accountable for the language used.

After narrowly interpreting the policy, any ambiguity in the language of the policy must be interpreted in favor of the policy holder and against the insurance company.

…[t]he rule of strict construction against an insurance company certainly does not mean that every doubt must be resolved against it and does not interfere with the rule that the policy must receive a reasonable interpretation consistent with the parties' object and intent or narrowly expressed in the plain meaning and/or language of the contract. Neither should a nonexistent ambiguity be utilized to resolve a policy against the company. We consider that courts should not rewrite an insurance contract to enlarge the risk to the insurer.

However, the court found the term in this case, was not ambiguous.

The event organizer then argued that the Concurrent Proximate Cause Doctrine should apply in this case. The concurrent proximate cause doctrine holds that when an insured event flows from an insured event, the protection afforded by the insurance policy flows with to the new event.

Where the loss is essentially caused by an insured peril with the contribution of an excluded peril merely as part of the chain of events leading to the loss, there is coverage under the policy. Stated alternately, coverage will exist where a covered and noncovered peril join to cause the loss provided that the covered peril is the efficient and dominant cause.

The court found that there was no insured event to begin with so nothing could “flow” to the uninsured event.

The appellate court upheld the motion in the declaratory action by the trial court stating the insurance company Capitol had no duty to defend the event organizer Johnson and thus any liability to the Arnold family.

So Now What?

This is simple. You MUST do the following things if you are the owners, sponsor, organizer or insured with an insurance policy.

1.                 Read it

2.                Understand it

3.                Make sure it covers what you need it to cover.

4.               Find an agent who understands what you need and can communicate that to all the insurance companies he may be working with.

a.    If that means getting the insurance company out from behind their desk and down the river, to an event, or in your factory do that.

5.                Always confirm in writing or electronically that the coverage you requested and need is covered in the policy you are purchasing.

6.               Ask to see the policy and any exclusions, prerequisites or other requirements before paying for it. Once you open your wallet, you won’t get your money back.

7.                If the price of the policy is too good to be true, start investigating. On average a policy should cost $5 to $10 per person per day for outdoor recreation coverage. That amount is the bottom line and can go beyond that. If you are purchasing a policy at 1980 prices $2.00 per person per day, you are buying worthless paper.

You cannot be in business without an insurance policy. Contrary to popular believe, insurance policies do not attract lawsuits. How do people know if you are insured? If they do not know you are insured, how can someone decided to sue just because you have money.

If for no other reason, you need a policy that will pay to prove you are right. The attorney fees, court costs, exhibits, witness fees alone on a small case will exceed $50K. That means with no policy or a bad policy, you are out $50 to $100K before you even begin to pay a claim.

Insurance policies are difficult. I spent six years, three before and three after law school working for Nationwide Insurance. Reading a policy, let alone understanding it is mind numbing and hard. But you better or you will be standing in the cold, because someone took your house.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Copyright 2017 Recreation Law (720) 334 8529

James H. (Jim) Moss, J.D., Attorney and Counselor at Law

www.Recreation-Law.com                                             https://summitmagicpublishing.com/

Phone: 720 334 8529                                                                      Social: @RecreationLaw

[email protected]                                                                             [email protected]