TWG Investments, Ltd. v. Higginbotham Insurance Agency, Inc., 02-24-00181-CV

TWG Investments, Ltd. provided mental health services in Texas and obtained insurance through two agencies over several years, including Higginbotham Insurance Agency, Inc.
Due to a transition from a "claims-made" to an "occurrence" insurance policy, a gap in professional liability coverage arose, exposing TWG to a claim originating in 2016 but asserted later.
In September 2018, TWG’s insurer denied coverage for a lawsuit relating to the coverage gap, after which TWG demanded indemnification from Higginbotham and Boley-Featherston.
TWG paid to settle the underlying lawsuit and then sued Higginbotham for negligence in March 2022, more than three years after the denial of coverage.
Higginbotham moved for summary judgment on the basis of the statute of limitations and argued no breach of duty occurred; TWG claimed Higginbotham was estopped from asserting limitations due to promises to pay after litigation concluded.
The trial court granted summary judgment to Higginbotham on limitations, but the court of appeals reversed, finding a fact issue on estoppel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
When did TWG’s negligence claim accrue for limitations purposes?	Not until underlying claim was resolved.	Accrued at denial of insurance coverage.	Accrued at denial of coverage.
Is Higginbotham barred from asserting limitations by estoppel?	Higginbotham's agent promised to pay, so TWG delayed suit.	No agreement to delay, no estoppel; limitations ran.	Evidence of agent’s promise raised a fact issue; remand required.
Sufficiency of estoppel pleading/evidence	Estoppel was both pled (by supplement) and supported by record.	Estoppel defense not properly pled or proved.	Court considered supplemental pleadings; evidence sufficed for fact issue.
Applicability of summary judgment to further unruled grounds	N/A	Court should also consider alternative grounds.	Only statute of limitations considered, not alternative grounds.

Johnson & Higgins of Tex., Inc. v. Kenneco Energy, Inc., 962 S.W.2d 507 (Tex. 1998) (negligence claim against insurance agent accrues on coverage denial, not final resolution of claim)
S.V. v. R.V., 933 S.W.2d 1 (Tex. 1996) (limitations begins when claimant suffers legal injury, even if full damages are not yet known)
Marcus & Millichap Real Est. Inv. Servs. of Nev., Inc. v. Triex Tex. Holdings, LLC, 659 S.W.3d 456 (Tex. 2023) (legal injury rule applies to accrual of negligence claims)
Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp Advisors, Inc. v. Fielding, 289 S.W.3d 844 (Tex. 2009) (summary judgment standard favors nonmovant on doubts and inferences)
City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d 671 (Tex. 1979) (burden of conclusively proving elements for summary judgment)