On Monday, April 25, 2016, the Supreme Court of Colorado ruled that policyholders could not be indemnified for a settlement incurred before providing their insurers of notice of the claim—even if the insurer did not suffer any prejudice from lack of notice. In a 4-3 decision in Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. v. Stresscon Co., No. 13SC815 (Colo. Apr. 25, 2016) (“Stresscon”) the court held that “no-voluntary-payments” provisions (or “consent-to-settle” provisions) would excuse an insurer’s duty to indemnify settlement amounts of which the insured had not provided notice.

The question before the court was whether the notice-prejudice rule it had applied to occurrence-based liability policies in Friedland v. Travelers Indem. Co., 105 P.3d 639 (Colo. 2005) (“Friedland”) prevented an insurer from avoiding indemnification under the “no-voluntary-payments” provision. In Friedland, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed with jurisdictions that require an insurer to show prejudice before denying a claim if notice was untimely. The court stated in Friedland that notice provided after a claim had settled did not necessarily preclude a policyholder’s recovery of insurance benefits, but created a presumption that the insurer suffered prejudice. If the policyholder adequately rebutted the presumption of prejudice, then the insurer would be permitted to deny coverage only if it proved actual prejudice. The court did not address the question of how the notice-prejudice rule interacted with a no-voluntary-payments provision.

This question was answered Monday in Stresscon. In Stresscon, a concrete subcontractor (the policyholder) was sued by its contractor to recover damages incurred as a result of construction delays caused by the policyholder. Before any suit had been filed, the policyholder entered into a settlement with the contractor without consulting its insurance company. Several months later, the policyholder sued its insurer (and other entities) and ultimately recovered a jury verdict for bad faith breach of contract.
Continue Reading Colorado Supreme Court Holds That An Insurer Need Not Show Prejudice If Denying Coverage For A Settlement Prior to Notice of Claim