Insurance Claim – Negligence

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: Emer’s Camper Corral, LLC, v. Michael A. Alderman, et al.,

Case No.: 2020 WI 46

Focus: Insurance Claim – Negligence

Emer’s Camper Corral, LLC (“Camper Corral”) thought its insurance agent had acquired a policy with a deductible of $1,000 per camper in the event of hail damage with a $5,000 aggregate deductible limit. In actuality, the policy required a $5,000 deductible per camper, with no aggregate limit. Camper Corral did not discover the truth until after a hailstorm damaged many of the campers on its lot.

Camper Corral sued its insurance agent, Michael A. Alderman, and Alderman, Inc. d/b/a Jensen-Sundquist (collectively, “Mr. Alderman”) claiming he was negligent because he procured a policy that did not conform to its requirements. The circuit court directed a verdict because Camper Corral’s failure to introduce evidence that an insurer would have insured the company with the deductible limits it thought it had meant that it had not proven a causal link between the agent’s negligence and the sustained loss.

We granted Camper Corral’s petition for review to determine whether it must prove not just that an insurance policy with the requested deductibles was commercially available, but also that an insurer would actually write that policy for Camper Corral in particular. We hold that commercial availability is insufficient to establish causation; Camper Corral must also prove it would have qualified for an insurance policy with better terms than the policy it actually obtained. Therefore, we affirm the court of appeals.

Affirmed

Concur:

Dissent: ROGGENSACK, C.J., filed a dissenting opinion.

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.