Court Opinion

ID: 9883600
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 01:53:56.409705+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:23.454612
License: Public Domain

CROCKETT, Justice
(dissenting) :
It is important to bear in mind that, as correctly set forth in the main opinion, the defendant Barnes was not an “insured” under Jensen’s policy with plaintiff Trans-america. Therefore Barnes and Trans-america had no contractual relationship nor obligations to each other. Defendant Barnes simply became a third-party beneficiary of Transamerica’s promise to its insured, Jensen, that it would pay up to $1000 medical to any occupant of his car who was injured. It should be assumed *109that Jensen both desired and paid for this protection to his passengers, of which Barnes became a beneficiary. Transameri-ca received the premium for that protection and should fulfill that obligation and should not be permitted to sue and recover from the third-party beneficiary (defendant Barnes). Allowing it to take the money away from the intended beneficiary to reimburse itself results in. failure to fulfill the promise for which it accepted the premium, and defeats the purpose for which its insured (Jensen) paid his money.
The conclusion thus stated is affirmed by the well known authority, Couch on Insurance, Sec. 61:172, 2d Ed., wherein it is stated:
It may be required by statute or contract that some person other than the insured shall have the benefit of the insurance procured by the insured. When such is the case, the insurer may not assert any claim by way of subrogation against such person, [this w] on the theory that the policy is designed to afford protection to such third person and this purpose would obviously be defeated if the insurer could sue the third person to recover from him the payments made by the insurer to the third person. (Citation) [Emphasis added.]
It is also significant that Transamerica’s policy contained numerous and ample provisions for its own protection, including rights of subrogation expressly reserved to itself, but it did not include the right of subrogation against any third-party beneficiary, therefore not against one in the position of the defendant Barnes.
Further, assuming without conceding that there may be some circumstances where such a subrogation would be available to this plaintiff, it certainly would be obliged at least to make it clearly appear that $1000 of the settlement received by Barnes in the other suit was for the medical expense plaintiff had paid. On the basis of the pleadings, affidavits, admissions and answers to interrogatories, the trial court could view the facts thus: that inasmuch as the settlement of Barnes (defendant here) in the other case wherein he settled his claim of $65,000 for $7500 was indicated as being for his personal injuries, and with no segregation nor indication as to separate medical expense, there therefore would exist no reasonable basis for a finding that the $1000 medical expense which had been paid by plaintiff Transamerica was repaid in that settlement.
On the basis of what I have said above I think the trial court was justified in concluding that there was no disputed issue of fact which if resolved in favor of the plaintiff would entitle it to prevail, and that accordingly, the summary judgment was proper in order to avoid the time, trouble and expense of a trial.