Poteet v. Sauter2/1/2001
As amended November 27, 2001.
In this case, we must decide whether the Circuit Court for Washington County erred by failing to compel the joinder of a partially subrogated insurance company as a party plaintiff. The case arises from a serious automobile accident that occurred in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia on August 21, 1996, involving two vehicles, one driven by Evelyn Poteet, appellant, and the other by Raymond Sauter, Jr. ("Mr. Sauter"), appellee. Mr. Sauter's wife, Brenda, and two of their three children, Jan and Kasey, were passengers in his car and are appellees here.
Following the motor vehicle accident, Poteet's insurance company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm"), offered to settle with the Sauters for Poteet's policy limit of $50,000, but appellees refused to accept that sum. Instead, on June 2, 1998, appellees reached a settlement agreement with their own insurance carrier, State Auto Mutual Insurance Company ("State Auto"), pursuant to the underinsured motorist provision of the Sauters' policy. In accordance with the terms of the settlement, appellees received $150,000 collectively, in exchange for an assignment of rights to State Auto.
Thereafter, on August 17, 1998, appellees filed suit against Poteet in Washington County. Appellant subsequently sought to join State Auto as a plaintiff, claiming the Sauters had assigned their rights against Poteet to State Auto. The court denied appellant's motion.
Following a three-day jury trial that began on December 1, 1999, the jury returned a verdict in favor of appellees in the amount of $308,388.83. From that verdict, appellant noted her appeal. She presents two issues for our consideration, which we have rephrased slightly:
I. Did the court err in refusing to add State Auto as a necessary party to the action?
II. Did the court err in refusing to submit the issue of contributory negligence to the jury?
We answer both questions in the negative and shall affirm.
I. FACTUAL SUMMARY
A. The Proceedings Below
After the accident, State Farm, Poteet's liability insurer, offered to pay the Sauters $50,000, which was the maximum per accident limit of coverage available under Poteet's policy. As we noted, the Sauters declined to accept that sum in settlement of their claim against Poteet. Instead, they pursued a claim with their own insurance company, State Auto, based on the underinsured policy provisions of their own policy, which had "a single limit" of $100,000. On June 2, 1998, in exchange for $150,000, the Sauters entered into an Agreement and Release with State Auto (the "Agreement"). In the Agreement, State Auto expressly refused to waive its subrogation rights against Poteet. As the terms of the Agreement are central to this case, we shall set forth below its pertinent provisions:
AGREEMENT AND RELEASE
SECTION TWO
Explanation
2.01 As a result of the Occurrence, the Sauters have made a Claim against Poteet who is insured under the State Farm Policy. State Farm has offered to pay to the Sauters the per accident limit of liability coverage ($50,000.00) under the State Farm Policy. The Sauters have made a claim against State Auto for underinsured motorist coverage benefits provided under the State Auto Policy. State Auto, after an examination of the land and tax records in Washington County, Maryland, has determined that Poteet is the sole owner of an unencumbered piece of real estate located in Hancock, Washington County, Maryland, which has a minimum value of $90,000.00. Therefore, State Auto is unwilling to waive its rights of subroga
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