Court Opinion

ID: 9482015
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:37:53.014498+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:42.871215
License: Public Domain

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting, with whom JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge, joins.
It may well be that insurance policies are “promises for the payment of money” within the meaning of Mo.Rev.Stat. § 516.-110(1). However, I remain unpersuaded. For the reasons discussed below, I would hold that the insurance policy in question does not contain a promise for the payment of money and, therefore, this action is barred by the 5-year statute of limitations applicable to actions upon written contracts, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 516.120(1). Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
The Missouri case law is subject to differing interpretations. Unlike the majority opinion, however, I read State ex rel. Enterprise Milling Co. v. Brown, 208 Mo. 613, 106 S.W. 630 (1907) (Enterprise Milling ), and Missouri, Kansas & Texas Ry. v. American Surety Bond Co., 291 Mo. 92, 236 S.W. 657 (1921) (banc) (American Surety), as the “aberrant” line of cases and would instead adhere to that line of cases represented by Parker-Washington Co. v. Dennison, 267 Mo. 199, 183 S.W. 1041 (1916) (Parker-Washington Co.), and Martin v. Potashnick, 358 Mo. 833, 217 S.W.2d 379 (1949). See Fogerty v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 850 F.2d 430, 432 (8th Cir.1988) (Fogerty) (now overruled by this case); Superintendent of Insurance v. Livestock Market Insurance Agency, Inc., 709 S.W.2d 897, 900-02 (Mo.Ct. App.1986) (Livestock Market).
“It is the evolved principle of [Missouri] decisions that, in order for the ten-year limitations period of § 516.110 to appertain, the writing must be not only for the payment of money, but also must contain a ‘promise to pay money.’ ” Livestock Market, 709 S.W.2d at 900, citing Martin v. Potashnick, 217 S.W.2d at 381 (emphasis added). “[T]o constitute a promise for the payment of money, ‘the money sued for’ must be that money promised by the language of the writing without resort to extrinsic proofs” and “the cause of action must be based upon an absolute and fixed liability-a written acknowledgment of money due and unpaid.” Livestock Market, 709 S.W.2d at 901-02 (emphasis in original), citing Parker-Washington Co., 183 S.W. at 1042. Thus, “the essence of a promise to pay money is that it is an ac-knowledgement of an indebtedness, an admission of a debt due and unpaid.” Martin v. Potashnick, 217 S.W.2d at 381 (emphasis added). In the present case, the insurance policy does not contain an admission of indebtedness; there is no absolute and fixed liability on the part of the insurer to pay accidental death benefits. In addition, proof of plaintiff’s claim would require extrinsic evidence that accidental death had occurred. In my view, these factors make it impossible to construe the insurance policy in question as a promise for the payment of money.
I would distinguish Enterprise Milling and American Surety as cases involving *1267writings for the payment of money, an attachment bond and an indemnity bond, respectively, but not promises for the payment of money. In each case the bondholder had to go beyond the writing itself to prove both the existence of the underlying obligation or the occurrence of the condition or contingency, as well as the amount of the obligation. In neither case did the writing in itself promise the payment of money, that is, acknowledge indebtedness or liability absolute or fixed. Lorberg v. Jaynes, 298 S.W. 1059, 1061 (Mo.Ct.App. 1927) (Lorberg), and Home Insurance Co. v. Mercantile Trust Co., 219 Mo.App. 645, 284 S.W. 834 (1926) {Home Insurance), arguably support my analysis because in each case the court held a particular writing was a promise for the payment of money and then applied the 10-year statute of limitations. Lorberg involved a contract promising to pay a pro rata share of losses, 298 S.W. at 1061, and Home Insurance involved a written guarantee of endorsements on a draft, 284 S.W. at 836.
With respect to the cases applying the 10-year statute of limitations to insurance policies, each case applies the 10-year statute of limitations, without analysis, only after deciding an unrelated question of statutory interpretation. In Liebing v. Mutual Life Insurance Co., 269 Mo. 509, 191 S.W. 250 (1916), the issue was whether the action was one based on a “writing ... for the payment of money” or on a liability “created by a statute other than a penalty or forfeiture.” 191 S.W. at 252. The plaintiff argued that the 10-year statute of limitations applied because the action involved an insurance policy as extended by certain nonforfeiture statutes; the defendant argued that the 5-year statute of limitations applied because the action involved an obligation created by the nonforfeiture statutes. The court presumed that the policy, aside from the nonforfeiture statutes, was a promise for the payment of money and held that because the nonforfeiture statutes were part of the policy, the action was on the policy, not an obligation created by statute, and the 10-year statute of limitations applied. Id. at 252-53.
Adams v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 139 S.W.2d 1098 (Mo.Ct.App.1940) (Adams), quashed on other grounds sub nom. State ex rel. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Hughes, 347 Mo. 549, 148 S.W.2d 576 (1941) (banc), and Crawford v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 167 S.W.2d 915 (Mo.Ct.App.1943) (Crawford), did not involve choosing between the 5-year and 10-year statutes of limitations. In each case the analysis assumed the 10-year statute of limitations applied and focused upon when the claimant’s cause of action for insurance benefits accrued.
The 10-year statute of limitations was applied with little analysis in Crenshaw v. Great Central Insurance Co., 527 S.W.2d 1 (Mo.Ct.App.1975) {Crenshaw), and Edwards v. State Farm Insurance Co., 574 S.W.2d 505 (Mo.Ct.App.1978) (Edwards). In Edwards the issue was whether a suit for personal injuries against the insurer under a policy containing uninsured motorist coverage was a contract action or a tort action. The court held the action was a contract action and applied the 10-year statute of limitations. 574 S.W.2d at 506 (accident occurred in 1971, lawsuit filed in 1977), citing Crenshaw, 527 S.W.2d 1. In Crenshaw the issue was whether the 2-year statute of limitations for wrongful death actions barred an insured’s action against the insurer for uninsured motorist coverage. The fatal accident occurred in 1969; the lawsuit was not filed until 1972. The court held that the lawsuit was a contract action and applied the 10-year statute of limitations, without any discussion or explanation and cited only uninsured motorist coverage cases. 527 S.W.2d at 4.
Finally, I do not think Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. King Dodge, Inc., 835 F.2d 1238 (8th Cir.1987) (King Dodge), is inconsistent with either Fogerty or the Parker-Washington Co. line of Missouri cases. In King Dodge the trust agreement contained a promise to pay money, an indebtedness which the employer acknowledged. The only disagreement involved the amount to be paid, and the fact that extrinsic evidence is required to prove the amount to be paid will not bar the application of the 10-year *1268statute of limitations. 835 F.2d at 1240, citing Livestock Market, 709 S.W.2d at 900. In the present case, the insurance policy does not contain an admission of indebtedness, and the insurer has not admitted an absolute and fixed liability to pay accidental death benefits.
I would hold that the 10-year statute of limitations does not apply and would accordingly affirm the order of the district court.