Anthis v. Windom

Citations

• 197 Conn. App. 427

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages allegedly sustained as a result of the defendants' negligence and recklessness, arising out of an incident in which the defendant's motor vehicle struck the front of the plaintiff's neighboring home. Prior to trial, the court denied the defendant's motion in limine seeking to preclude the plaintiff from offering evidence regard- ing her home repair costs, which he asserted were paid for by the plaintiff's homeowners insurer. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, and the court thereafter denied the defendant's motion for remittitur and rendered judgment for the plaintiff, from which the defendant appealed to this court. Subsequently, the court denied the defendant's motion to open the judgment, in which he argued that a payment made by his automobile liability insurer to the plaintiff's homeowners insurer constituted a payment by him, such that requiring him to pay the economic damages awarded by the jury would result in a double payment and that the plaintiff's insurer was equitably subro- gated to the plaintiff's rights to seek recovery from the defendant. Held: 1. The trial court properly denied the defendant's motion in limine; although there was no dispute that the plaintiff's insurer paid the plaintiff on an insurance claim submitted by her in relation to the incident, the court observed that there may have been a discrepancy between the amount the plaintiff paid for the repairs and the amount she was reimbursed by her insurer, and the court addressed the defendant's double recovery claim when it adjudicated his motion for remittitur, as to which the parties had created an evidentiary record. 2. The defendant could not prevail on his claim that the trial court improperly denied his motions for remittitur and to open the judgment, because the court's denial of these motions resulted in a double recovery by the plaintiff, and a double payment by the defendant with respect to property damage expenses the pla