In March 2012, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion concerning the liabilty of insurers and insurance agents in cases involving failure to procure and maintain appropriate insurance coverage.  The case is Allstate Ins. Co. v. Tarrant.  The case is a "must read" for insurance practitioners, and is full of good nuggets.  Today I’ll address the basic facts of the case and the first issue of ratification.

The basic facts in the Tarrant case were that Mrs. Tarrant was involved in an automobile accident, resulting in injuries to the driver of a motorcycle.  The injured motorcycle driver then sued the Tarrants, alleging that they were liable for his injuries. After the personal injury suit was filed, a dispute arose between the Tarrants and their vehicle insurer, Allstate, as to the amount of insurance coverage that was available.  Allstate claimed that Mr. Tarrant had requested that his agent move the vehicle from a commercial policy with limits of $500,000 to a personal policy with limits of $100,000.  Mr. Tarrant denied that he directed his agent to make that change, and that the transfer was the result of the agent’s mistake. 

The agent didn’t deny that the agency may have made a mistake, but argued that it was the Tarrants’ responsibility to notify the agency of the mistake upon his receipt of the proof of insurance cards.  Instead, Mr. Tarrant did not notify the agent and continued to pay premiums.  Based on these facts, the trial court held that Mr. Tarrant ratified the change of insurance by continuing to pay premiums on the policy after receiving notice of the change.  The Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeals’ reversal of this decision, holding that an insured cannot ratify the actions of the insurance agent because the agent, by statute, is regarded as the agent of the insurance company, not the insured.  The full reasoning of the opinion is too in depth to discuss here, but the entire decision was premised around the application of Tenn. Code Ann. 56-6-115(b), which states that an insurance producer who obtains an application for insurance must be considered to be the the agent of the insurer and not the insured.  Applying that statutory mandate to the elements of ratification (which requires an adoption, approval or confirmation of a contract previously executed by another in his stead and for his benefit), the Supremes held that Mr. Tarrant could not have ratified the agent’s actions.

Another interesting thing about the case is that the Court’s decision was not in the slightest bit affected by any question of whether the agent was a true agent of the company as opposed to a broker, which is usually regarded as an agent of the insured.  In fact, the court implicitly noted that the same rules would apply to both because the relevant statute applies to "insurance producers," which are statutorily defined as persons required to be licensed under the laws of the state to sell, solocite, or negotiate insurance.

There were several other important points in the case that I’ll address in following posts.  But for those who haven’t heard, just wait til you hear what our Legislature did in response to this opinion!

 

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Brandon McWherter Brandon McWherter

J. Brandon McWherter is a Nashville-based lawyer and member of McWherter Scott & Bobbitt PLC, which has offices across the State of Tennessee and elsewhere across the Southeast.  Licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, he has dedicated his practice to assisting insurance…

J. Brandon McWherter is a Nashville-based lawyer and member of McWherter Scott & Bobbitt PLC, which has offices across the State of Tennessee and elsewhere across the Southeast.  Licensed in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, he has dedicated his practice to assisting insurance policyholders with their claims against insurance companies, including claims for bad faith.

For well over a decade, McWherter’s practice has been focused almost exclusively on the prosecution of first party property insurance claims for policyholders.  His interest in this area of the law first started around 2003 when a tornado struck Jackson, Tennessee, where he lived and worked at the time.  Since then, McWherter has represented hundreds or thousands of policyholders whose claims have been underpaid or denied.  He advises and advocates for owners of commercial properties, industrial facilities, residential properties, churches, business owners, and other insurance policyholders.

Since he started counting in 2013, McWherter has assisted his clients in obtaining well in excess of One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000) in settlements, awards, and jury verdicts against insurance companies.

In 2018, McWherter was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Coverage Counsel, which is an invitation-only organization designed to facilitate and encourage the association of lawyers who are distinguished for their skill, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice or teaching of insurance coverage and extra-contractual law and who are dedicated to excellence in this area of practice.

McWherter has been featured as a “Super Lawyer” or “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers every year since 2010.  Since 2013, he has been selected each year  for inclusion in U.S News and World Reports’ The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Insurance Law.  He also enjoys an AV Preeminent ranking by Martindale-Hubbell for legal ability and ethical standards.

Mr. McWherter is a lifelong Tennesseean and received his law degree from the University of Memphis. While in law school, he was a member of the University of Memphis Law Review, and served on the Editorial Board as Notes Editor.

In advocating for clients, McWherter has trudged through fire scenes and crawled storm-damaged roofs, quizzed consulting construction experts and experts for hours on end, and deposed and cross-examined hundreds of adjusters, experts, consultants, and other professionals within the insurance industry.  He reads insurance policies nearly every day and has a working knowledge of the customs and practices of insurance companies in investigation, estimating, and payment of claims.  McWherter counsels clients on presentation of claims, assists in compiling the evidence necessary to validate the amounts owed, and then enforces his clients’ rights, if necessary, via the judicial system and other alternative dispute resolution options, such as appraisal.

Several of McWherter’s cases have developed the law governing insurance disputes in the State of Tennessee, most recently including the Tennessee Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Lammert et al. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., which held that insurers may not depreciate the costs of labor in determining their actual cash value payment obligations when the policy does not clearly allow it.

When not working, you will usually find Mr. McWherter with his wife, Angela, and his two daughters. He is an avid golfer and a lifelong bass fisherman, neither of which he does as often as he would like.

Practice Areas

  • Representation of policyholders in claims and litigation against insurance companies
  • Bad faith insurance litigation
  • Insurance-based consumer class actions

Professional Associations

  • Tennessee Bar Association
  • Arkansas Bar Association
  • Mississippi Bar Association
  • Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Trial Lawyers Association (past member)
  • American Bar Association (past member)

Education

  • B.S.B.A. – Union University (1998)
  • J.D. – University of Memphis (2001)

Bar Admissions

  • Tennessee
  • Mississippi
  • Arkansas
  • Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
  • United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas