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Carpenter Technology Corp. v. Admiral Insurance Co.6/17/2002
the original insolvent insurers.
Faced as we are with both parties' invocations of public policy, we conclude that this State's public policy supports NJPLIGA's position. Further compounding the problem, "large carrier insolvencies are becoming more and more frequent" and affect a wide range of insurers, including those providing environmental insurance. J. Ernest Hartz, State Insurance Guaranty Associations: The Time has Come to Establish Uniform Ground Rules - or Prepare for Federal Involvement in Insurance Insolvency, 22 Fall Brief 20 (1992) (cited in American Employers', supra, 157 N.J. at 598); National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds, 1993 Assessment and Financial Information 6-7 (1994); A.M. Best Co., Special Report: Best's Insolvency Study (1991). Consequently, the cost of supporting insurer insolvencies is on the rise. See Kent M. Forney, Insurer Insolvencies and Guaranty Associations, 43 Drake L. Rev. 813, 814-15 (1995) (noting that net loss to insurers, who fund associations through assessments, is ultimately passed on to policyholders or taxpayers).
The dissent's suggestion that our disposition limits the amount of monies available to remediate in-state environmental hazards does not consider the unique facts of this appeal. Although we do not know why the settlement with Pennsylvania occurred, the fact is that Carpenter settled for less than was available under Pennsylvania law. Further, the record does not inform us whether other resources are available, i.e., federal and/or state funding sources for the remediation of polluted sites. See Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C.A. ยง 9601 to -9675 (West 2001); Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11 to -23.25 (2001).
IV.
Carpenter may not recover from NJPLIGA the difference between the amount Carpenter recovered from PPCIGA and NJPLIGA's maximum recovery of $300,000 per covered claim. After settling with the primarily-liable insurance guaranty association, Carpenter now insists that NJPLIGA make up the difference, a result that could expose NJPLIGA to millions of dollars in potential liability. We believe that our Legislature did not intend such a result.
Based on our interpretation of N.J.S.A. 17:30A-12a, and on this record, we conclude that NJPLIGA is entitled to a credit equal to the statutory maximum amount payable by PPCIGA.
Reversed. CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES STEIN and COLEMAN join in JUSTICE ZAZZALI's opinion. JUSTICE VERNIERO filed a separate dissenting opinion. JUSTICES LONG and LaVECCHIA did not participate.
VERNIERO, J., dissenting.
I would affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division substantially for the reasons expressed in Judge Bilder's persuasive opinion. Carpenter Tech. Corp. v. Admiral Ins. Co., 335 N.J. Super. 510 (2000). Based on a straightforward analysis, the panel determined that when the Legislature used the phrase "reduced by the amount of recovery" in N.J.S.A. 17:30A-12a, it meant what it said, namely, that "NJPLIGA is entitled to credit only for the amounts actually received by plaintiff from [PPCIGA]." Carpenter, supra, 335 N.J. Super. at 516. The majority has reached an opposite conclusion. The Court concludes that "reduced by the amount of recovery" means reduced by an amount "equal to the statutory maximum amount payable by PPCIGA." Ante at __ (Slip. op. at 21-22).
Our sole task is to look at the statute's words and ascribe to them their plain meaning. The Court does otherwise. It ferrets out an ambiguity that, in my view, does not exist. In so doing, the Court advances a parochial interest, and it dilutes our State's role in a nati
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