The Courts and Equitable Subrogation versus Equitable Contribution (Part
3)1
October 2004
What is the difference between equitable subrogation
and equitable contribution? This question has been answered differently in recent
court decisions, particularly in Illinois, where it is now up to the Illinois
Supreme Court to end the confusion.
by Joseph
P. Postel
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
Part 1 of this series explained the difference
between equitable subrogation and equitable contribution—and how many courts
have confused the two. Part 2 focuses on cases of
overlapping coverage, or mutually exclusive coverage where unresolved factual
questions make it impossible to determine which policy applies, but both potentially
do. This article examines the conflicting decisions of the First and Third Districts
of the Illinois Appellate Court and the issues to be resolved by the Illinois
Supreme Court.
In Progressive Ins. Co. v Universal Cas. Co.,
347 Ill App 3d 10, 807 NE2d 577 (1st Dist 2004), the court discussed the differences
between equitable subrogation and equitable contribution. The court's analysis
began with the question of whether both policies were primary, or whether one
of them was excess. The court explained (with various omissions not noted below):
-
Equitable contribution is an insurer's right to recover from a co-obligor
that shares the same liability. Equitable subrogation, on the other hand,
refers to a situation where an insurer has paid the principal debtor's obligation
to the common underlying claimant, and thereafter succeeds to the claimant's
rights against the principal debtor. This doctrine encompasses actions in
which an excess insurer sues a primary insurer for reimbursement.
-
Were we to find that both other insurance clauses apply to Pizza Nova
in this case, the clauses would cancel each other out and the insurers would
essentially be rendered co-insurers. The proper cause of action would then
be one based in equitable contribution and the loss could be prorated between
the companies based on policy limits. To the contrary, were we to find that
Progressive's "other insurance" clause rendered it an excess insurer, the
proper theory of recovery would be based in equitable subrogation and the
insured would be required to exhaust its primary insurance prior to using
its excess coverage. [807 NE2d at 585-86.]
It is obvious that these doctrines are meant to be complimentary. Where one
does not apply, the other will. If the risks are the same, equitable contribution
is available. If the risks are different, equitable subrogation is available.
A court in doubt as to whether the risks are the same or different should incline
toward finding them to be the same, so that the loss can be shared, rather than
visited on one insurer while the other avoids liability. Generally speaking,
an action for equitable subrogation lies in favor of an excess insurer against
a primary insurer. Where two primary policies cover the loss, they should both
contribute, regardless of any differences in their scope of coverage.
Identity of Risks
It is completely illogical to impose the "identity of risks" requirement
of an equitable contribution claim on an insurer asserting an equitable subrogation
claim, as the appellate court did in Home Ins. v Cincinnati
Ins., 801 NE2d 997 (Ill App 2003). The "identity of risks" requirement
is the very thing that distinguishes the two, and determines which remedy is
afforded. At least one court has specifically rejected an insurer's attempt
to defeat an equitable subrogation claim by imposing the "identity of risks"
requirement on such a claim. See State Farm Fire & Cas.
Co. v Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc., 163 Cal App 3d at 204,
209 Cal Rptr at 253 (Cal App 1984) ("[n]or are we impressed with the arguments
of Cooperative and Mutual that equitable subrogation is available only in the
case of double insurance, i.e., where both the insured and the risks covered
are identical in each policy").
To impose the requirement on both types of actions, therefore, is necessarily
to obliterate the distinction between them, and to leave courts without any
guidance as to which remedy to provide. Moreover, it is to deny justice and
to encourage irresponsible behavior by insurers.
Thirty-eight years ago, the Illinois Supreme Court said, "A loss should not
fall irrevocably upon that insurer which first recognizes its obligations, while
one neglectful of its duty is allowed to escape." New
Amsterdam Cas. Co. v Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, 34 Ill 2d 424,
216 NE2d 665, 669 (1966).
The Seventh Circuit echoed that theme 19 years later: "It is a bad idea to
inform insurance carriers that whichever is least faithful to its obligation
to the insured will escape all liability as long as a responsible carrier covers
the loss." Western Cas. & Sur. Co. v Western World Ins.
Co., 769 F2d 381, 383 (7th Cir 1985) (Illinois law).
Like any equitable remedy, subrogation and contribution are intended to apply broadly to effectuate their remedial purpose
and to do equity. Therefore, the "identity of risks" requirement for an equitable
contribution claim does not apply to an equitable subrogation claim.
The Problem with Schal Bovis, Inc. v Casualty Insurance
Co.
In arriving at its conclusion that the Home could not meet the requirements
for an equitable contribution claim in Home Ins. v Cincinnati
Ins., 801 NE2d 997 (Ill App 2003), the Illinois Appellate Court relied
on Schal Bovis, Inc. v Casualty Ins. Co., 315
Ill App 3d 353, 732 NE2d 1179 (1st Dist 2000). The court in Schal Bovis held that the liability insurers
for four different subcontractors—each of which furnished additional insured
coverage to the owner and general contractor for liability arising out of the
named insured subcontractor's work—covered different risks, because their named
insureds were different.
The elements of a claim for equitable contribution are well settled, and
were set out by the Schal-Bovis court early in
its opinion. As the court noted, the insurer making the claim must prove: (1)
all facts necessary to the claimant's recovery against the insured; (2) the
reasonableness of the amount paid to the claimant; and (3) an identity between
the policies as to parties and insurable interests and risks. It is this third
element, of course, that was the focus of the court's analysis.
The dispute in Schal-Bovis involved coverage
for the general contractor (Schal) and the owner (Buck). There was no dispute
that Schal and Buck were additional insureds on policies issued to four different
subcontractors by Great American, Wausau, Casualty, and American States. For
ease of reference, the following chart provides the four subcontractor's insurers
and their named insureds.
FIGURE
1
Great American and Wausau paid their share of the loss on behalf of Schal
and Buck, and sought equitable contribution from Casualty and American States,
which also covered Schal and Buck as additional insureds, but did not pay on
their behalf. The court analyzed whether the third element for an equitable
contribution claim was satisfied, i.e., did the four policies cover the same
risk? It began its analysis with a quote from Couch on Insurance 3d at sec. 218:6:
- It is not necessary that the policies provide identical coverage in
all respects in order for the two policies to be considered concurrent,
and each insurer entitled to contribution from the other; as long as that particular risk actually involved in
the case is covered by both policies, the coverage is duplicate, and contribution
will be allowed. To illustrate, the fact that the first liability
insurer's policy covered only property damage while the second insurer's
policy covered bodily injury and property damage did not relieve the first
insurer from having to contribute; both policies covered the same risk because
both provided coverage for property damage that occurred during their respective
policy periods. [315 Ill App 3d at 363, 732 NE2d at 1186 (Emphasis supplied).]
The court concluded that the four policies did not cover the same risk, reasoning
as follows:
- Although the Great American policy covered Schal and Buck as additional
insureds, it did so only to the extent that Schal's and Buck's liability
arose out of Ranken's work. The Wausau policy covered Schal and Buck from
liability, but only when that liability arose out of Ozark's work. Clearly,
the risk that a plaintiff might be injured in connection with Ranken's work
is a different risk than the risk that a plaintiff might be injured in connection
with Ozark's work. These risks are, in turn, different from the risks associated
with a plaintiff being injured in connection with Alcan's work or in connection
with Chicago Forming's work (as is required by the Casualty and American
States polices). Thus, because each insurer insured substantively different
risks, each is precluded from seeking equitable contribution from the others.
[315 Ill App 3d at 363, 732 NE2d at 1187].
The court's conclusion cannot be justified. First, the court did not even
answer the question that, by quoting the Couch treatise, it accepted as dispositive: did all of the subcontractors' policies
cover the loss? The court ignored that question and also ignored the facts relevant
to that question. Instead, the court looked only at the differing language in
the various additional insured endorsements, concluding that different language
in the endorsements necessarily meant different risks insured.
But it does not mean that. To proceed from the premise that the four policies
each covered Schal and Buck for their liability arising out of a different subcontractor's
work, to the conclusion that they therefore covered different risks, is to assume
that the owner's and general contractor's liability could only have arisen out
of one of the subcontractor's work, but not the others. This assumption goes
unacknowledged and unexplained in the opinion, however.
In fact, that is a false assumption. There is no reason to assume that the
liability of Schal and Buck could not have arisen out of the work of all four
of the subcontractors. After all, the substantive law applicable to the underlying
claim recognizes that a loss may be proximately caused by more than one tortfeasor.
See I.P.I. Civil (2000 ed.), Instruction
15.00, Proximate Cause:
- When I use the expression "proximate cause," I mean [that] [a] [any]
cause which, in natural or probable sequence, produced the injury complained
of. It need not be the only cause, nor the last or nearest cause. It is
sufficient if it concurs with some other cause acting at the same time,
which in combination with it, causes the injury.
In contrast to the proximate cause standard applicable to the underlying
tort action, the condition for the general contractor's additional insured coverage
under a subcontractor's policy is merely that the additional insured's liability
"arise out of the named insured's work." It is well settled that the terms "arising
out of" in standard additional insured endorsement forms connote only the loosest
connection between the loss and the named insured's work ("but for" causation)—much
looser than the direct connection required to satisfy the proximate cause standard
applicable to the underlying claim. Maryland Cas. Co.
v Chicago & North Western Transp. Co., 126 Ill App 3d 150, 154, 466 NE2d
1091, 1094 (1st Dist 1984) ("the phrase ‘arising out of' is both broad and vague,
and must be liberally construed in favor of the insured; accordingly, ‘but for
causation,' not necessarily proximate causation, satisfies this language").
So if, under the stricter standard of causation applicable to the underlying
claim, the loss can be said to have been caused by more than one subcontractor,
it necessarily follows that under the looser standard applicable to determining
additional insured coverage, the loss can be said to arise out of the work of
more than one subcontractor.
It is very difficult to determine from the opinion in Schal-Bovis whether such a connection could have
been established as to any of these four subcontractors, because the opinion
says very little about what specific work each subcontractor did, whom it contracted
with, or even which subcontractor the injured man worked for. Certainly, however,
there are no facts recited in the opinion to justify the conclusion that Schal's
and Buck's liability did not arise in some way out of the work of the subcontractors
whose carriers did not honor their obligations to Schal and Buck. And if it
did, then the identity of risks requirement for an equitable contribution claim
was satisfied, because all four policies covered the loss. Indeed, the court
would have been entitled to assume that
the owner and general contractor's liability arose out of the subcontractors'
work, because the underlying complaint alleged exactly that. [Home
Ins. Co. v Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London, 729 F2d 1132 (7th
Cir 1984); Indiana Ins. Cos. v Granite State Ins. Co.,
689 F Supp 1549 (SD Ind 1988).]
River City Gets It Right
It is therefore not surprising that in the year after Schal-Bovis was decided, the Third District Appellate
Court rejected its central holding with respect to the identity of risks requirement
for equitable contribution claims. [Cincinnati Ins.
Co. v River City Constr. Co., 325 Ill App 3d 267, 757 NE2d 676 (3rd Dist
2001).] The River City court said as follows:
- Because the rule in Schal Bovis would
unfairly protect Auto-Owners from paying for the benefit it received—release
from liability—we refuse to follow Schal Bovis.
The Cincinnati policy insures Caterpillar for liability arising out of Illinois
Piping's operations, and the Auto-Owners policy insures Caterpillar for
liability arising out of River City's work. Cincinnati settled the Modugnos'
claim against Caterpillar and paid out insurance proceeds for Cincinnati's
benefit and for the benefit of Auto-Owners. While the Auto-Owners and Cincinnati
policies have different sets of insureds, Caterpillar was insured for Modugno's
injuries under both policies. Consequently, dismissal of Cincinnati's claim
for equitable contribution was error. [325 Ill App 3d at 275, 757 NE2d at
682.]
Clearly, the River City decision is consistent
not only with the great weight of authority, but also with the broad nature
of equitable remedies. The purpose of the identity of risks requirement for
an equitable contribution claim is not to erect an insurmountable barrier to
a rightful recovery, but merely to determine which remedy is appropriate: sharing
(if the risks are identical) or full reimbursement (if the risks are different
and therefore one insurer is primarily liable and the other only secondarily
so). If an action for equitable contribution does not lie because the policies
cover different risks, then the result is that the settling insurer has an action
for equitable subrogation, not that the insurer goes without a remedy.
In Schal-Bovis it was apparent that all four
of the subcontractors' policies at least potentially covered the general contractor
as an additional insured, because the plaintiff's complaint alleged that all
four subcontractors were negligent and proximately caused the loss, and they
therefore all owed coverage equally. These factors satisfied the identity of
risks requirement, because they established that the insurers owed coverage equally, as opposed to one or more being
primarily liable and one or more being only secondarily so.
The Illinois Supreme Court ought, therefore, to approve of River City and overrule Schal-Bovis. To be sure, the court can decide this case simply by holding
that it was error to engraft the identity of risks requirement on to an action
for equitable subrogation, without resolving the conflict between the First
and Third Districts of the appellate court on equitable contribution claims,
but the court should resolve that conflict in the interest of providing needed
clarity and guidance to bench, bar, and public in this difficult area of the
law.
Follow these links for Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.
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