Court awards man $.2M for loss of arm

AFTER 17 years of waiting for justice, Percy Fraser, 77, has had his day in court. For losing a hand in a vehicular accident 21 years ago, a High Court judge has ordered an insurance company to pay Fraser $200,000. The judgment was handed down by Justice Humphrey Stollmeyer who also ordered that Capital Insurance pay Fraser’s legal cost. Fraser, a father of 22 of Siparia Erin Road, Santa Flora, was knocked down by a car on August 24, 1984, while on his way to a shop to purchase bread. When his left hand was severed, Fraser was forced to retire from the Santa Flora-based branch of State-owned Petrotrin known then as Trinidad Tesoro Petroleum Company. On July 15, 1988, Fraser, through Montano and Company, sued the vehicle owner and obtained judgment in default. A letter was sent to Capital, informing that a writ of summons on Fraser’s behalf for compensation had been filed.

However, Capital claimed that Fraser’s attorneys never made the company aware of a notice to sue the insurance company in the event of the company’s failure to acknowledge the claim. This must be done, the company contended, in accordance with Section 10 (2) of the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risk) Act. The case remained pending in the Sub-registry of the San Fernando High Court for 16 years. In July, attorney Krishendath Neebar filed a lawsuit against Capital, which challenged the issue of whether proper notice was given. In a written judgment, Stollmeyer stated that the short issue for determination was whether Fraser had satisfied the Section 10 requirement of serving proper notice on Capital.

The judge stated that the provisions of the act required that an insurer be given notice of the bringing of proceedings by a plaintiff arising out of a motor vehicle accident. Stollmeyer stated that Fraser relied on three letters to Capital — the first from Fraser outlining his injuries and seeking compensation. The second, from attorney RT Pena and Company, the judge stated, reminding Capital of Fraser’s first letter. The third letter informed Capital that a writ had been filed for damages for negligent driving of the vehicle. In his judgment, Stollmeyer referred to a submission by Capital’s attorney Lennox Sanguinette — that none of the three letters satisfied the requirement of the notice. Sanguinette submitted that not only must an insurer be given notice of a claim, but must be made aware that if the claim is not settled, then legal proceedings would follow.

In agreeing with Sanguinette, Stollmeyer, in a six-page judgment, stated that as a matter of law, an insurer must be put on notice of a claim that legal proceedings would be instituted if there was no settlement. However, the judge stated that he was satisfied by Montano’s letter that Capital was aware of legal proceedings filed by Fraser. And although that may not amount to notice of impending lawsuit, Stollmeyer stated, Fraser’s letter had what the judge described as a conjoint effect of notice of claim and notice of legal proceedings. In the circumstances, Stollmeyer stated, judgment should be granted to Fraser for $200,000, with interest to be paid at six percent from October 26, 1995, to September, 28, 2000. Thereafter, the judge ordered, the defendant (Capital) must pay 12 percent per annum. Stollmeyer, however, ordered a stay of execution of his judgment for 21 days.