Williamson v. Hartford Life & Accident, etc., No. 12-3425 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit seeking interest on benefits she received under an Accidental Death and Dismemberment (ADD) insurance policy issued by Hartford. The parties disagreed on whether Tennessee law or Missouri law applied. Plaintiff did not dispute Hartford's argument that under Missouri law and the policy language, Hartford paid the benefit to her when it was payable. Accordingly, the court concluded that plaintiff was not entitled to interest under Missouri law. Assuming Tennessee law applied, the court relied on Performance Sys., Inc. v. First Am. Nat'l Bank, to conclude that the Tennessee Supreme Court would likely construe "due" in Tenn. Code Ann. 7-14-109(b) to mean the time of payment designated in the policy, not the date of loss. In this instance, Hartford paid the benefit to plaintiff within the time of payment designated in the policy and, therefore, plaintiff was not entitled to interest under subsection (b). Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Civil case - Insurance. In action alleging the beneficiary was owed interest for the period between the insured's death and the payment of death benefits, the beneficiary was not entitled to interest under Missouri law because no interest is allowed until the benefits become due and payable and plaintiff conceded the insurer paid the benefit when it was payable; assuming Tennessee law applied, it is likely the Tennessee Supreme Court would interpret the word "due" in the relevant statute to mean the time of payment designated in the policy and not the date of the loss; here, the policy defined the time of payment as "as soon as possible" after receipt of proof of loss and other forms that may be necessary to adjudicate the claim; under such an interpretation, interest would not be due in this case.
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