Opinion ID: 1291067
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: nhaa insurance exception

Text: In support of her final assignment of error, Harris argues that her claim falls within the insurance exception of the NHAA. Section 71-15,168 provides, in relevant part: (1) All tort claims against a housing agency shall be governed by the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act. (2) Every person who has any claim against a housing agency, other than a tort claim under subsection (1) of this section, shall file the same, in writing, with the executive director or other person who may be acting as the secretary of such agency. If the claim is in contract, the claim shall state the services provided or articles furnished, as the case may be, and shall show the amount charged and claimed due and unpaid, allowing all just credits. The procedures set forth in this section shall not be applicable to any claim against any agency if the agency advises the claimant in writing that the liability of the agency for such claim, if any, is covered by insurance in whole or in part. (Emphasis supplied.) As set forth above, § 71-15,168(2) expressly states that the claim procedures of the NHAA apply to a claim other than a tort claim under the PSTCA. The PSTCA contains its own, specific provisions governing the effect of a political subdivision's purchase of liability insurance. See § 13-916. There is no indication that the Legislature intended tort claims against housing agencies to be treated differently. In discerning the meaning of a statute, a court must determine and give effect to the purpose and intent of the Legislature as ascertained from the entire language of the statute considered in its plain, ordinary, and popular sense, as it is the court's duty to discover, if possible, the Legislature's intent from the language of the statute itself. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. Chaulk, 262 Neb. 235, 631 N.W.2d 131 (2001). When § 71-15,168 is read as a whole, it is plain that the Legislature intended the insurance exception to apply to claims other than a tort claim, not to claims that would otherwise be governed by the PSTCA. Regardless of whether Harris' claim is covered by OHA's liability insurance, it is a tort claim against a housing agency and is subject to the PSTCA pursuant to the plain language of § 71-15,168(1). Harris' final assignment of error is without merit.