Requests for Admission Deemed Admitted in Arizona if Not Responded to Within 30 Days
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Post 4828
Rose Karam, an insured, appealed from the superior court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of her residential property insurer, Mercury Casualty Co. In Rose A. Karam v. Mercury Casualty Company, No. 2 CA-CV 2023-0112, Court of Appeals of Arizona, Second Division (May 31, 2024) her suit against Mercury was defeated by admission that she had no case because she responded late to requests.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Karam was an insured under a Mercury homeowner’s policy. After suffering a fire at her home, Karam filed a property loss and damage claim under the policy, citing damage to a piano and a wall mirror. Following receipt of payments by Mercury Karam complained to Mercury that she was underpaid for personal property losses.
Two years later, Karam sued Mercury for insurance fraud, consumer fraud, and breach of contract. Thereafter, on August 30, 2022, Mercury served Karam with a set of discovery requests including interrogatories and requests for admission. Karam’s response to the requests for admission were due within thirty days of service she provided her responses months later on December 1, 2022.
Mercury moved for summary judgment. By its motion, Mercury asserted, in part, that because Karam’s responses to the requests for admission were untimely, the requests were deemed admitted. Due to those admissions-including that Karam had been fully and fairly paid for her losses, that Mercury had not breached the insurance policy, and that Karam had suffered no damages-Mercury claimed it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Karam’s breach of contract claim.
The court further determined that, even considering her actual, albeit untimely, responses to the requests for admission, Karam “failed to produce admissible evidence creating a genuine issue of fact for trial.”
DISCUSSION
The Court of Appeals will only affirm a grant of summary judgment if the evidence produced in support of the defense or claim has so little probative value that no reasonable person could find for its proponent.
Admissions
Arizona Rule 36(a)(1) provides that “[a] party may serve on any other party a written request to admit . . . the truth of any matters . . . relating to . . . facts, the application of law to fact, or opinions about either; and . . . the genuineness of any described documents.” The purpose of requests for admission is to expedite the trial and to relieve parties of unnecessary costs in proving facts.
Once a party is served with requests for admission, failure to respond within 30 days the rule provides “[a] matter admitted under this rule is conclusively established unless the court, on motion, permits the admission to be withdrawn or amended.”
Karam conceded on appeal that she did not respond to Mercury’s requests for admission within the required thirty-day period. Therefore the superior court did not abuse its discretion in deeming the statements in the requests for admission admitted.
Karam effectively admitted that she had been fully and fairly compensated for the claims she submitted, that Mercury did not breach the insurance policy, and that she did not otherwise have damages. Those admissions – even each standing alone – defeat a claim for breach of the insurance policy.
Given the allegations in Karam’s complaint and her admissions made by operation of law, there remained no material issue in dispute and Karam can no longer carry her burden of proof in this action.
Mercury was entitled to summary judgment and the court did not err in granting Mercury’s motion.
ZALMA OPINION
A lawyer practicing in Arizona that does not comply with the rules concerning Requests for Admission will always lose because his opponent will always send a Request including the ultimate facts about the case. Mercury’s counsel took advantage of the Arizona rule and obtained admissions that resulted in the resolution of the case in its favor. Karam is not without a remedy, she has a cause of action against her lawyer.
(c) 2024 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
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Jury’s Findings Interpreting Insurance Contract Affirmed
Post 5105
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Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc. (“Madelaine Chocolate”) appealed the district court’s judgment following a jury verdict in favor of Great Northern Insurance Company (“Great Northern”) concerning storm-surge damage caused by “Superstorm Sandy” to Madelaine Chocolate’s production facilities.
In Madelaine Chocolate Novelties, Inc., d.b.a. The Madelaine Chocolate Company v. Great Northern Insurance Company, No. 23-212, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (June 20, 2025) affirmed the trial court ruling in favor of the insurer.
BACKGROUND
Great Northern refused to pay the full claim amount and paid Madelaine Chocolate only about $4 million. In disclaiming coverage, Great Northern invoked the Policy’s flood-exclusion provision, which excludes, in relevant part, “loss or damage caused by ....
Failure to Name a Party as an Additional Insured Defeats Claim
Post 5104
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Contract Interpretation is Based on the Clear and Unambiguous Language of the Policy
In Associated Industries Insurance Company, Inc. v. Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd., No. 23-CV-10400 (MMG), United States District Court, S.D. New York (June 16, 2025) an insurance coverage dispute arising from a personal injury action in New York State Supreme Court.
The underlying action, Eduardo Molina v. Venchi 2, LLC, et al., concerned injuries allegedly resulting from a construction accident at premises owned by Central Area Equities Associates LLC (CAEA) and leased by Venchi 2 LLC with the USDC required to determine who was entitled to a defense from which insurer.
KEY POINTS
Parties Involved:
CAEA is insured by Associated Industries Insurance Company, Inc. ...
Exclusion Establishes that There is No Duty to Defend Off Site Injuries
Post 5103
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Attack by Vicious Dog Excluded
In Foremost Insurance Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan v. Michael B. Steele and Sarah Brown and Kevin Lee Price, Civil Action No. 3:24-CV-00684, United States District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania (June 16, 2025)
Foremost Insurance Company (“Foremost”) sued Michael B. Steele (“Steele”), Sarah Brown (“Brown”), and Kevin Lee Price (“Price”) (collectively, “Defendants”). Foremost sought declaratory relief in the form of a declaration that
1. it owes no insurance coverage to Steele and has no duty to defend or indemnify Steele in an underlying tort action and
2. defense counsel that Foremost has assigned to Steele in the underlying action may withdraw his appearance.
Presently before the Court are two ...
ZIFL Volume 29, Issue 10
The Source for the Insurance Fraud Professional
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Zalma’s Insurance Fraud Letter (ZIFL) continues its 29th year of publication dedicated to those involved in reducing the effect of insurance fraud. ZIFL is published 24 times a year by ClaimSchool and is written by Barry Zalma. It is provided FREE to anyone who visits the site at http://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/ You can read the full issue of the May 15, 2025 issue at http://zalma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ZIFL-05-15-2025.pdf
This issue contains the following articles about insurance fraud:
Health Care Fraud Trial Results in Murder for Hire of Witness
To Avoid Conviction for Insurance Fraud Defendants Murder Witness
In United States of America v. Louis Age, Jr.; Stanton Guillory; Louis Age, III; Ronald Wilson, Jr., No. 22-30656, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (April 25, 2025) the Fifth Circuit dealt with the ...
Professional Health Care Services Exclusion Effective
Post 5073
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This opinion is the recommendation of a Magistrate Judge to the District Court Judge and involves Travelers Casualty Insurance Company and its duty to defend the New Mexico Bone and Joint Institute (NMBJI) and its physicians in a medical negligence lawsuit brought by Tervon Dorsey.
In Travelers Casualty Insurance Company Of America v. New Mexico Bone And Joint Institute, P.C.; American Foundation Of Lower Extremity Surgery And Research, Inc., a New Mexico Corporation; Riley Rampton, DPM; Loren K. Spencer, DPM; Tervon Dorsey, individually; Kimberly Dorsey, individually; and Kate Ferlic as Guardian Ad Litem for K.D. and J.D., minors, No. 2:24-cv-0027 MV/DLM, United States District Court, D. New Mexico (May 8, 2025) the Magistrate Judge Recommended:
Insurance Coverage Dispute:
Travelers issued a Commercial General Liability ...
A Heads I Win, Tails You Lose Story
Post 5062
Posted on April 30, 2025 by Barry Zalma
"This is a Fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud that explains why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story is designed to help everyone to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the Perpetrators than any Other Crime."
Immigrant Criminals Attempt to Profit From Insurance Fraud
People who commit insurance fraud as a profession do so because it is easy. It requires no capital investment. The risk is low and the profits are high. The ease with which large amounts of money can be made from insurance fraud removes whatever moral hesitation might stop the perpetrator from committing the crime.
The temptation to do everything outside the law was the downfall of the brothers Karamazov. The brothers had escaped prison in the old Soviet Union by immigrating to the United...
