BRIAN JACK GOREE, Acting Presiding Judge.
¶ 1 This appeal and counter-appeal arise from the trial court's judgment based on a jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff/Appellee/Counter-Appellant, Aduddell Lincoln Plaza Hotel d/b/a Renaissance Center, L.L.C. (Hotel), on its insurance bad faith claim against Defendant/Appellant/Counter-Appellee, Certain Underwriters of Lloyd's of London (Lloyds). We reverse and remand for a new trial based on errors in the jury instructions that probably resulted in a miscarriage of justice.
¶ 2 Jury Instruction No. 1 described the issues in the case. Lloyds issued an insurance policy covering Hotel. On July 16, 2009, Hotel's premises were damaged by wind and hail as a result of storms that crossed Oklahoma. Hotel claimed Lloyds violated its duty of good faith and fair dealing by (a) denying portions of the claim without a reasonable basis; (b) inadequately investigating the claim; (c) unreasonably delaying investigation and/or payment of the claim; (d) unreasonably withholding pertinent information from Hotel; (e) taking advantage of Hotel's vulnerable position after the storm; (f) conditioning payment of undisputed portions of the claim on settlement of disputed portions; (g) engaging Rimkus Engineering to inspect the damage to Hotel; (h) ignoring the law in investigating and paying the claim; (i) failing to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage to the property while it investigated the claim; and (j) issuing a notice of cancellation.
¶ 3 The jury instruction advised that Lloyds denied Hotel's claims. Lloyds claimed that it promptly investigated Hotel's claim and paid all amounts due under the policy. It claimed that delays in the investigation were caused by Hotel and Hotel's failure to cooperate. Lloyds also claimed that it relied on the findings of Rimkus Engineering that much of the damage to the roofs and interior of the buildings was from pre-existing conditions including age and the lack of proper maintenance. Lloyds claimed that the insured premises was a gutted, vacant building, with no immediate plans for future development, and Hotel's claim for lost profits was speculative and unproven.
¶ 4 The jury returned a verdict in favor of Hotel and against Lloyds. It awarded damages of $1,629,300.00 for loss related to restoration cost and water remediation. It awarded damages of $10,000,000.00 as a result of "not being able to develop the property." The jury found Lloyds recklessly disregarded and intentionally and with malice breached its duty to deal fairly and act in good faith with its insured. Following additional evidence in the second stage of trial, the jury awarded Hotel punitive damages of $7,023,000.00. The trial court subsequently awarded prejudgment interest in the amount of $935,514.23, and applied an offset of $100,000.00 based on the parties' stipulation. It then entered judgment on the jury verdict in the total amount of $19,487,814.23.
¶ 5 Lloyds appealed from this judgment, and Hotel counter-appealed. Lloyds' brief in chief enumerates sixteen contentions of error. Because we reverse and remand for a new trial based on errors in the jury instructions, we need not decide the remaining contentions.
¶ 6 In reviewing jury instructions on appeal, we must consider the instructions as a whole. Dutsch v. Sea Ray Boats, Inc., 1992 OK 155, ¶7, 845 P.2d 187, 189. The instructions need not be ideal but must reflect Oklahoma law regarding the subject at issue. Id. The test for error in instructions is whether the jurors were probably misled regarding the legal standards they should
¶ 7 Lloyds contends that the trial court gave erroneous instructions that prejudiced its defense and misled the jury. We agree. Jury Instruction No. 12 provided:
This instruction did not correctly state the law, and it probably affected the jury's verdict to the degree that Lloyds did not have a fair trial.
¶ 8 The insured premises was the former Lincoln Plaza Hotel in Oklahoma City. Before issuing a policy, Lloyds retained an inspector to view the property and report his findings. Lloyds used the report to help it decide whether to accept the risk and write the policy, or to decline Hotel's application. Lloyds chose to issue the policy.
¶ 9 After the property sustained storm damages, Lloyds retained Rimkus Engineering to inspect the buildings and report what part of the loss was caused by wind, hail, or other causes. Rimkus found the loss to the roofs was partially caused by wind and substantially caused by non-covered conditions that pre-existed the policy period such as age and inadequate maintenance. Based on the Rimkus report, Lloyds paid Hotel an amount substantially less than the cost of replacing the roofs.
¶ 10 Hotel argues in its brief, "Lloyds inspected the property, knew its condition, insured the roofs, and could not avoid payment for the covered loss of storm damage, based on any roof's pre-loss condition." (Emphasis in original.) Jury Instruction No. 12 is broader than Hotel's argument. The instruction communicates that Lloyds had the opportunity to inspect the roofs, it chose to insure them without reservation, and it thereby waived the right to limit the amount of its payment based on the roofs' condition.
¶ 11 When a person applies for insurance, the potential insurer may ask to inspect the property as part of its process of evaluating the risk. Accepting the risk proposed in Hotel's application meant Lloyds agreed to write the policy. The resulting Building and Personal Property Coverage Form was a contract whereby Hotel agreed to pay a premium and Lloyds agreed to pay for damage to the insured premises caused by any covered loss commencing during the policy period.
¶ 12 Lloyds' initial inspection might have played a role in its decision to accept the risk, but it did not preclude Lloyds from later raising the policy defense that a portion of Hotel's loss was caused by something not covered by the policy. Stated another way, Lloyds' agreement to insure the risk did not, by operation of law, constitute an agreement to provide coverage for that risk without any limitations. Jury Instruction No. 12, however, conveyed to the jury that Lloyds waived the condition of the roofs when it issued the policy, and as a consequence, could not limit its payment under the policy.
¶ 14 Hotel cites Great Northern Life Ins. Co. v. Cole, 1952 OK 308, 207 Okla. 171, 248 P.2d 608, 610-611, and Springfield Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. First Nat'l Bank of Taloga, 1917 OK 574, 70 Okla. 47, 172 P. 652, 653-54. These two cases stand for the proposition that an insurer cannot be relieved from its obligation when it seeks forfeiture based on circumstances it knew existed when it issued the policy. In Great Northern, the insurer issued a policy agreeing to pay benefits resulting from the accidental death of James Cole. The insurer knew when it prepared the policy that Cole was an automobile machinist. It also knew its policy contained an exclusion precluding coverage for any person employed as an automobile machinist. The insurer was not permitted to deny coverage based on its exclusion when it had full knowledge when it accepted the risk that coverage could be barred. Great Northern, 1952 OK 308, ¶ 14, 248 P.2d 608. Great Northern relied on the decision in Springfield Fire.
¶ 15 In Springfield Fire, an insurance company provided property insurance to an individual whom it knew had transferred ownership to another. When a claim was presented, the insurer argued the policy was void because the insured had no ownership interest. The Supreme Court quoted from a similar case decided in another state: "We think the rule is well settled that where an insurance company ... issues a policy with full knowledge of existing facts, which by its terms would work a forfeiture of the policy, the insurer must be held to have waived all such conditions, at least to the extent of its knowledge, actual or constructive. It cannot be permitted to knowingly issue a worthless policy upon a valuable consideration." Springfield Fire, 1917 OK 574, ¶ 8, 172 P. 652.
¶ 16 In Great Northern and Springfield Fire, the insurer accepted a premium knowing that the terms of its policy, if enforced, could result in a complete forfeiture of coverage. Neither case supports a conclusion that a casualty insurer, by accepting a risk, must pay for a loss that was in existence at the time it issued the policy. Lloyds did not, as a matter of law, agree to pay damages that were in existence before it issued the policy merely because it had the opportunity to know the condition of the insured premises.
¶ 17 Hotel also cites Bowman v. Presley, 2009 OK 48, 212 P.3d 1210, but does not explain how it applies. Bowman arose from a contract to sell a home. The buyer alleged the seller fraudulently misrepresented the square footage of the home. The seller argued, unsuccessfully, that because the buyer had the right to inspect the home, the doctrine of caveat emptor applied to bar the buyer's claim. To the extent that Hotel may be arguing that caveat emptor bars Lloyd's defense based on its inspection of the insured property, we reject the contention.
¶ 18 We are mindful of the rule that if the appellant can point to no prejudice arising from erroneous instructions, the appellate court will not disturb the judgment. Juvenal v. Okeene Public Schools, 1994 OK 83, ¶ 25, 878 P.2d 1026, 1031. If competent evidence supports the verdict, we will not disturb it because of erroneous instructions unless it appears reasonably certain that the jury was misled. Id. at ¶ 13. We find these common law standards have been met as well as the statutory standard that the instruction probably resulted in a miscarriage of justice. 20 O.S.2011 § 3001.1.
¶ 19 The evidence shows Lloyds obtained an estimate for the cost to replace the roofs and it totaled approximately $602,000.00. This constituted replacement cost without any reduction for non-covered losses. A witness for Lloyds testified this figure was a starting point in the determination of what it would owe for covered losses. Rimkus Engineering inspected the roofs and reported its opinion of what damages were caused by the storm and what damages were not caused by the storm. Lloyds compared its engineer's report to the roofing estimate and concluded
¶ 20 During closing argument, Hotel's attorney summarized Jury Instruction No. 12. He told the jury that the judge had instructed them that they were not supposed to consider the condition of the roofs, the part of the damages which was "uncovered." Hotel's counsel argued to the jury that the roofing estimate was $602,000.00 for replacement cost, but that Lloyds paid only $50,000.00. He characterized this as an intentional reduction and bad faith. The jury awarded consequential damages in the amount of $1,629,300.00 for loss related to restoration cost and water remediation.
¶ 21 The jury rejected Lloyds' argument that it was not obligated to pay for the condition of the roofs which pre-existed the storm. Hotel's closing argument suggests it was led to this conclusion by the erroneous Jury Instruction No. 12. We hold that Lloyds' defense, that it paid what it owed under the policy, was so undermined by the "waiver of condition" instruction that it probably caused a miscarriage of justice.
¶ 22 Jury Instruction No. 8, entitled "Bad Faith — Failure To Pay Claim of Insured," was based on OUJI No. 22.2,
¶ 23 Any modification to a jury instruction must accurately state the law and be simple, brief, impartial, and free from argument. 12 O.S.2011 § 577.2. Jury Instruction No. 8 fails to meet this standard.
¶ 24 Jury Instruction No. 14,
¶ 25 Furthermore, the actions set forth in Instruction No. 14 do not, without more, constitute unfair claim settlement practices under the Act. In order to be an unfair practice, the breach must be committed (1) flagrantly and in conscious disregard of the Act, or (2) with such frequency as to constitute a business practice. § 1250.5 and § 1250.3. This statutory condition was not included in Instruction No. 14.
¶ 26 Hotel argues that Instruction No. 14 permissibly advised the jury that
¶ 27 The trial court should have given OUJI No. 22.1
¶ 28 Instruction No. 9 was a modified version of OUJI No. 22.4 governing the measure of damages for insurance bad faith cases. The instruction is correct because it followed 23 O.S.2011 § 61, which provides, "For the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, the measure of damages, except where otherwise expressly provided by this chapter, is the amount which will compensate for all detriment proximately caused thereby, whether it could have been anticipated or not." This section sets forth the measure of damages for a tort claim, including breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. For such a claim, loss of future
¶ 29 The case law that Lloyds cites for the proposition that anticipated profits are too speculative and uncertain to be recoverable is based on 23 O.S.2011 § 21, which provides the measure of damages for breach of contract:
Hotel dismissed its breach of contract claim at trial, and therefore its recovery is not limited to "clearly ascertainable" damages. Rather, it may recover that "amount which will compensate for all detriment proximately caused thereby, whether it could have been anticipated or not." Jury Instruction No. 9 was correct. The trial court did not err in permitting the jury to consider, as an element of damage, the amount of money Hotel lost as a result of not being able to develop the property. The loss of profit was supported by competent evidence.
¶ 30 Because of the errors in Jury Instructions 7, 8, 12, and 14, and the directed verdict as to mitigation of damages, this case must be remanded for a new trial.
¶ 31 Hotel's counter-appeal claims error in the trial court's discovery rulings regarding discovery of communications between Lloyds and its counsel, George Dahnke. Hotel does not identify where in the record the trial court made an erroneous ruling.
¶ 32 For the foregoing reasons, the trial court's judgment is REVERSED and this matter is REMANDED for a new trial.
HETHERINGTON, V.C.J. (sitting by designation), and BUETTNER, J. (sitting by designation), concur.
If you find that Lloyds engaged in conduct constituting an unfair claim settlement practice as set forth above, you are entitled to consider such violation, together with all other facts and circumstances in evidence, when determining whether or not Lloyds breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing to Lincoln Plaza.
The special relationship between the insurer and its insured gives rise to the duty of good faith and fair dealing, especially in light of the unequal bargaining power of the parties. Of particular importance is the position of the insured after a loss is incurred, since the very risks insured against presuppose that if and when a claim is made, the insured will be disabled and, therefore, particularly vulnerable to an economically powerful entity.