Opinion ID: 1635023
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: was insured guilty of contributory negligence?

Text: Contributory negligence is conduct for which plaintiff is responsible, amounting to a breach of duty which the law imposes upon persons to protect themselves from injury, and which, concurring and cooperating with actionable negligence for which defendant is responsible, contributes to the injury complained of as a proximate cause. Starnes v. Stofferahn, 83 S.D. 424, 432, 160 N.W.2d 421, 426 (1968). In the absence of knowledge to the contrary, one who is conducting himself in accordance with standards of ordinary care may assume that he is not to be exposed to harm from a breach of duty which others owe to avoid injury to him. Rikansrud v. City of Canton, 79 S.D. 592, 607-08, 116 N.W.2d 234, 242 (1962). Therefore, if insured conformed to the standard of an ordinary prudent person upon notice of the insurance condition, it would not need to do more in anticipation of the negligence of insurance agency in failing to fully insure. Id. As insurance agency concedes, ordinary care requires that an insured, once informed that his insurance company has deemed his premises underinsured, take steps to contact his insurance agent or the company regarding the problem. This is the precise step insured undertook. Once informed by a representative of insurance agency that the matter would be taken care of, nothing further was required of insured. Under these circumstances, the trial court was clearly erroneous in finding insured contributorially negligent. Vaughn v. Eggleston, 334 N.W.2d 870 (S.D.1983). Insured should be allowed to recover the full amount of its counterclaim. Inasmuch as we so hold, as a matter of law, we need not treat related issues propounded by the briefs.