Opinion ID: 2276887
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Green Mountain's Liability for Consequential Damages

Text: [¶ 47] Green Mountain further argues that it should not be liable for any of the consequential damages that were caused by the bad faith refusal of the insurers to pay the increased coverage amount. It contends that the consequential damages were not the proximate result of Green Mountain's actions and were not foreseeable. [¶ 48] Green Mountain is responsible for the damages its conduct proximately caused. It told Peabody that it would obtain the increased coverage. It did nothing further to indicate that the increased coverage was declined, thereby causing Peabody and County Forest to assume that the increased coverage was in effect. When the fire occurred, instead of recognizing that it had failed to procure the increased coverage and had failed to so notify Peabody, it persisted in denying the increased coverage. At one time it asserted that it had decided to deny the increased coverage, and at another time it said it tried to obtain additional information from Peabody in order to effectuate the increase. The court found Green Mountain made no attempt to obtain additional information from Peabody. [¶ 49] The trial court implicitly found that the refusal of the insurers to pay the increased policy limits and the specific direction of the insurers to its adjuster to arrive at an adjustment within the lower policy limits were caused by the refusal of Green Mountain to acknowledge that it neglected to obtain the increased coverage. This leads to the conclusion that Green Mountain's failure to acknowledge its error directly led to the nonpayment of the increased coverage limits by the insurers and was the cause of the consequential losses sustained by County Forest. [10] Green Mountain's failure to procure the requested insurance and failure to admit its error after the fire do not have to be the sole cause of County Forest's consequential loss in order for Green Mountain to be liable for such consequential damages. There may be more than one proximate cause, and Green Mountain's conduct only needs to be a substantial cause of the damages. See Wheeler v. White, 1998 ME 137, ¶ 10, 714 A.2d 125, 127-28. [¶ 50] In Lindsey v. Mitchell, 544 A.2d 1298 (Me.1988), we noted that the plaintiff's claim against the insurance agent was not limited to the agent's failure to procure insurance, but it was also based upon the agent's repeated representations to the plaintiff that the insurance was in effect. We affirmed the jury's finding of the agent's negligence and the finding that the agent's actions proximately caused the plaintiff's loss of a commercial driver's license which caused the loss of his trucking business. See id. at 1301. We affirmed the award of damages for loss of business and for the forced sale of the plaintiff's trucks. See id. at 1301-02. As in Lindsey, County Forest's claim against Green Mountain, as it was presented to the court, was not limited to failure to procure insurance, but extends to all of Green Mountain's actions. Green Mountain's failure to procure the increased insurance coverage before the fire, its refusal to acknowledge its error after the fire, and its obfuscation of its actions, all contributed substantially to County Forest's consequential damages. [¶ 51] With regard to the foreseeability of the consequential damages, it is possible that the consequential damages were not foreseeable at the time Green Mountain failed to procure the increased coverage, but they were foreseeable and readily capable of identification after the fire and during the time Green Mountain persisted in its actions of obfuscation and delay. The court did not err in concluding that Green Mountain was jointly and severally liable for the consequential damages with the insurers.