Green v. Allstate Insurance
Green v. Allstate Insurance
Opinion of the Court
ORDER AND OPINION
[Re: Mlotions at dockets 25 & 34]
I. MOTION PRESENTED
At docket 25, plaintiff Jeffrey R. Green (“Green” or “plaintiff’) moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 for summary judgment. Defendant Allstate Insurance Company (“defendant” or “Allstate”) opposes the motion at docket 36. Plaintiffs reply is at docket 50.
At docket 34, Allstate cross-moves for summary judgment. Green opposes the motion at docket 49. Allstate’s reply is at docket 51.
Oral argument was not requested with respect to either motion and would not assist the court.
II. BACKGROUND
Green is the owner of a triplex residence at 411 E 46th Place in Anchorage. The house was encumbered by a deed of trust payable to Wells Fargo Bank (“Wells Fargo”). Green had a homeowner’s insurance policy with Allstate. In October 2010, a fire damaged the house. The Anchorage Fire Department concluded that the fire started in a bedroom closet, but could not determine its origin.
Green maintains that the night of the fire, he left his home at around 11:30 p.m. when his girlfriend, Christa Finley (“Finley”), returned from the gym heavily intoxicated. Green maintains that he went to his friend, Kevin Young’s (“Young”) house and was there for approximately twenty minutes when he received a call from a neighbor informing him that his house was on fire. Finley stated in an affidavit that after Green left, she decided to burn strands of fabric hanging from clothes in a closet, that the clothes caught on fire, and that she was unable to put the fire out. Finley called the fire department from a Home Depot store across the street from the house, and she was located there by Anchorage police.
After Allstate denied Green’s claim, on August 19, 2011, Green filed suit in state court asserting claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The case was removed to federal court on October 19, 2011.
III. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Summary judgment is appropriate where “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
IV. DISCUSSION
A. Motion at Docket 25
1. Disputed Issues of Material Fact Preclude Summary Judgment
Plaintiff argues that there is no evidence that the fire was caused by arson
The defendant has produced evidence that samples taken from the room where the fire started contained trace elements of gasoline.
Green argues that, even if the fire were caused by arson, summary judgment is still appropriate because Allstate has not presented any evidence that Green started the fire. Green notes that he has provided an affidavit stating that he was not at home when the fire started and that he had nothing to do with it. Green also notes that Finley provided an affidavit in which she stated that she started the fire but did not intend to damage the house. However, Allstate has presented evidence that Green did not arrive at Young’s house — where he received a call informing him that the house was on fire — when says he did. Defendant’s evidence suggests that Green arrived at Young’s house an hour later than Green said he did. If believed by the trier of fact, this evidence would render Green’s whereabouts at the time the fire started unknown. Consequently, there is a disputed issue of material fact precluding summary judgment on this basis.
2. The Lender Loss Payable Endorsement
Green argues that even if he had started the fire, Allstate is obligated to pay Wells Fargo. The insurance contract lists Wells Fargo as the mortgagee
The insurance under this policy ... as to the interest only of the Lender, its successors and assigns, shall not be invalidated or suspended ... © by any breach of warranty, act, omission, neglect, or non-compliance with any of the provisions of this policy ... by the named insured, ... tenant, ... occupant ... or by the happening of any event permitted by them ... which under the provisions of this policy ... would invalidate or suspend the insurance as to the named insured.18
Allstate argues that Green does not have standing to enforce that provision. Allstate cites Fireman’s Fund Mortg. Corp. v. Allstate Ins. Co.,
Alaska Statute 21.42.030 provides that “a contract of insurance of property or of an interest in property ... may not be enforced as to the insurance except for the benefit of persons having an insurable interest in the things insured at the time of the loss.”
The Alaska Supreme Court “will recognize a third-party right to enforce a contract upon a showing that the parties to the contract intended that at least one purpose of the contract was to benefit the third party.”
Although the court agrees that Allstate is obligated to pay Wells Fargo regardless of the outcome of Green’s breach-of-contract claim, Green does not have third-party beneficiary status to enforce that obligation. The court does not read AS 21.42.030 to alter this conclusion.
Allstate argues that Green’s entire lawsuit “centers on the argument that Allstate has wrongfully refused to pay his claim.”
V. CONCLUSION
For the reasons above, plaintiffs motion at docket 25 for summary judgment is DENIED. Defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment at docket 34 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows
1) It is GRANTED with respect to plaintiffs bad faith claim.
2) It is DENIED with respect to plaintiffs breach-of-contract claim.
. Doc. 26-2 at 1.
. Id. at 2.
. Doc. 34-23 at 4.
. Doc. 26-1 at 3.
. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a).
. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
. Id.
. Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2000).
. Dominguez-Curry v. Nevada Transp. Dept., 424 F.3d 1027, 1036 (9th Cir. 2005).
. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
. See Southern Trust Ins. Co. v. Braner, 169 Ga.App. 567, 314 S.E.2d 241 (1984).
. Doc. 26 at 6-7 (citing AS 11.46.400).
. See, e.g., Hansen v. State, 845 P.2d 449, 452 (Alaska Ct.App. 1993).
. Doc. 34-23 at 4.
. Defendant’s showing includes evidence of Green’s financial trouble and inconsistencies in Green and Finley’s statements. See doc. 35 at 27-30.
. Doc. 34-32 at 5.
. Doc. 34-33 at 24-25.
. Id. at 24.
. 838 P.2d 790, 794 (Alaska 1992) (internal quotations omitted).
. Ran Investments, Inc. v. Indiana Ins. Co., 379 So.2d 991, 994 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1980).
. AS § 21.42.030.
. Schlehuber v. Norfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 281 So.2d 373 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1973).
. Id. § 21.42.030(a).
. Ennen v. Integon Indem. Corp., 268 P.3d 277, 283 (Alaska 2012) (internal quotations omitted).
. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 302.
. Doc. 34-33 at 24.
. Doc. 35 at 20.
. Doc. 35 at 20.
. Doc. 1-1 at 2-3.
. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Nicholson, 777 P.2d 1152, 1156 (Alaska 1989).
. Doc. 49 at 2; see Hillman v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins., 855 P.2d 1321, 1324 (Alaska 1993).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeffrey R. GREEN v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published