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Carpenter Technology Corp. v. Admiral Insurance Co.6/17/2002
however, does not on its face signal a legislative intent to limit NJPLIGA's obligation in the present circumstances.
III.
The out-of-state cases cited by the majority do not, in my view, support the Court's disposition. In Palmer v. Montana Insurance Guaranty Ass'n, the issue was whether the coverage limit of the secondarily-liable Montana Insurance Guaranty Association (MIGA) could be "stacked" with the limit of the primarily-liable Idaho Association. 779 P.2d 61, 62 (Mont. 1989). The claimant had already received Idaho's maximum statutory benefit ($300,000), and had argued successfully in the Montana District Court that the Idaho payment should be deducted from its total unpaid claim, but not from Montana's statutory limit (which was also $300,000). Id. at 62-63. The Palmer claimant thus was attempting to obtain the full maximum statutory limit from each liable guaranty association.
The Montana Supreme Court rejected that attempt at double-recovery, stating: "The framers' comments to this offset provision of the Model Act support our conclusion that payments from another association are offset against the $300,000 limit of MIGA's obligation." Id. at 64 (emphasis added). Because the claimant in Palmer had received the statutory limit from Idaho, there was never any question about the credit to which the Montana association was entitled.
That same situation occurred in Sifers v. General Marine Catering Co., 897 F.2d 1288 (5th Cir. 1990). There, the claimant received the Texas Insurance Guaranty Association's statutory maximum amount ($l00,000), thus eliminating any question about the amount of credit to which Louisiana was entitled. Id. at 1290. Cox v. Minnesota Insurance Guaranty Ass'n likewise involved a payment of the statutory maximum by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association that exceeded the limits of the later-approached Minnesota Insurance Guaranty Association. 508 N.W.2d 536, 539 (Minn. Ct. App. 1993). Thus, no issue regarding the meaning of "amount of recovery" was implicated in any of those cases. Lastly, in Mosier v. Oklahoma Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Ass'n, the Oklahoma Court of Appeals specifically declined to express an opinion on the question that is before us in this appeal. 890 P.2d 878, 881 n.3 (Okla. 1994).
IV.
As additional policy support for its disposition, the majority hints at potential collusion between a claimant and a foreign association by which the parties could engage in "quick deals and cheap settlements[.]" Ante at ___ (Slip op. at 22). From the injured claimant's perspective, such collusion seems unlikely. For example, the total amount Carpenter can recover under the respective guaranty statutes is the $300,000 cap per covered claim found in the New Jersey Act. See Palmer, supra, 779 P.2d 61; Sifers, supra, 897 F.2d 1288; Cox, supra, 508 N.W.2d 536. Under the Appellate Division's holding, the claimant's recovery is capped at the statutory maximum of the New Jersey Act, irrespective of the sum actually received from the other state's guaranty association. Thus, a claimant in Carpenter's position would have little incentive to shift liability from Pennsylvania to New Jersey because, in the end, the claimant would face the same limitation to recovery.
Moreover, if a foreign association unilaterally denies or defers coverage, the Act plainly permits a claimant to proceed against the New Jersey association regardless of the motives of the foreign association. N.J.S.A. 17:30A-12a. That rule underscores that the Act's primary objectives are to protect claimants to the fullest extent possible and to pay claims promptly. We should not, then, conjure up images of would-be conspirat
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