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Burge v. Mid-Continent Casualty Co.12/4/1996
FRANCHINI, Justice.
{1} Appellee Dale Burge ("Burge") was involved in a traffic collision with uninsured motorist Michael Sanchez ("Sanchez"). Burge brought a negligence action against Sanchez in district court in Taos ("Burge I "). At approximately the same time, Burge filed a separate action against his insurance carrier, Appellant Mid-Continent Casualty Company (Mid-Continent) in district court in Albuquerque ("Burge II "), alleging breach of contract and bad faith. While neither Burge nor Mid-Continent sought to consolidate the two suits, Mid-Continent did attempt to intervene in Burge I. When Sanchez failed to answer the complaint in Burge I, the court entered a default judgment in favor of Burge and against Sanchez. Thereafter, the Burge II court granted a partial summary judgment in favor of Burge, holding that, under the policy, once the default judgment was entered against Sanchez in Burge I Mid-Continent became liable to pay Burge damages up to the policy limits.
{2} On appeal we decide whether an automobile liability insurance carrier providing uninsured motorist coverage is bound by a default judgment rendered against the uninsured motorist in a separate suit. We review this case pursuant to SCRA 1986, 12-102(A)(1) (Repl. Pamp. 1992), and we reverse. Because we reverse and remand this case for a new trial, we do not address Appellant's other claimed errors.
{3} Facts and procedure. The relevant facts in addressing this issue are as follows. On August 31, 1990, Burge drove from Lawton, Oklahoma to Red River, New Mexico to visit some friends. The following morning, while riding his motorcycle in Questa, Burge was involved in a collision with an automobile driven by Sanchez. Sanchez was cited at the scene for not having automobile insurance. As a result of the accident, Burge sustained multiple injuries and damage to his motorcycle.
{4} At the time of the accident, Mid-Continent was Burge's insurance carrier. Burge had uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 on each of his four vehicles, making available to him a potential $100,000 of coverage with Mid-Continent. In September 1990, Burge notified Mid-Continent of the accident. Thereafter, Mid-Continent began its accident investigation, taking witness statements and examining the site of the accident in Questa. In April 1991, Mid-Continent took Burge's sworn statement. During an off-the-record break, Burge reported that the night before the accident, he and his friends drank heavily but denied drinking any alcohol the morning of the accident. After Mid-Continent evaluated Burge's sworn statement and his off-the-record statement, it determined that there were a number of inconsistencies between Burge's version of the accident and the witness statements. One witness reported that Burge's bike was parked in front of a bar before the accident. Two other witnesses told the investigating officer that immediately before the accident Sanchez was stopped in his traffic lane waiting to make a left turn. They stated that Burge then attempted to pass Sanchez in the left lane at a high rate of speed. Although one witness stated that Sanchez's left-turn signal was flashing, the officer reported that the signal did not have a bulb and appeared to have been broken for some time. Although Burge reported his speed at time of the accident to be 40 to 45 miles per hour, the police officer estimated Burge's speed to have been in excess of 50 miles per hour. Thereafter, Mid-Continent questioned Burge's claim for coverage because it had evidence that arguably established Burge's comparative negligence. Over the next year and a half, Mid-Continent and Burge attempted to settle the case on various occasions but were unable to reach an
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