Personal Injury Law

Insurance Policies Limits Are Not Discoverable UPDATED

By John A. Day

The Tennessee Supreme Court has just ruled that liability insurance policy limits are not discoverable in typical personal injury and wrongful death cases in Tennessee. 

Unlike the vast majority of states, our TRCP 26 does not mandate disclosure of limits.  The Court ruled that insurance policy information  " is not subject to discovery under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 26.02 because it is neither admissible nor does it appear to be reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."

On the bright side the Court said this:

While we are constrained by both the language and the history of current Rule 26.02 from holding that information concerning the defendants’ liability insurance coverage is subject to discovery, we are convinced that the time has come to align Tennessee with the rules in forty-eight states and the federal rule in allowing discovery of this information.

The opinion in Thomas v. Oldfield, No. M2006-02767-SC-R11-CF (Tenn. 2/2/09) is not yet on the AOC website.  I will post a link when it is.

UPDATE  --   here is the link to the opinion. 

Full post as published by Day on Torts on February 02, 2009 (boomark / email).