Opinion by
This is an insurance bad faith action. Plaintiff, Nicole Nunn, the assignee of the insured, Bryan James, appeals the district court's summary judgment against her and in favor of the insurer, Mid-Century Insurance Company.
The district court entered summary judgment because it concluded that James had not assigned any actual damages to Nunn. Though James purported to assign a claim for the unpaid portion of a judgment in excess of policy limits to which he and Nunn had stipulated before trial, because Nunn simultaneously covenanted not to execute on that stipulated judgment, the district court reasoned that James did not face any actual exposure to the stipulated excess judgment. We agree with the district court's reasoning, and therefore we affirm.
I. Background
James was the driver of an automobile involved in a single-car accident in July 1999. Nunn was one of five teenage passengers in the car. She suffered severe injuries, including a broken back, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. It appears to have been undisputed at all relevant times that James was at fault. Mid-Century admitted coverage from the outset and recognized, in internal documents, that the accident was "a case of aggravated liability" from which Nunn's damages could be between $2,000,000 and $5,000,000.
In September 2000, Mid-Century filed an interpleader action and deposited $300,000, the limit of its per occurrence liability under the insurance policy, in the court's registry. Mid-Century named all five passengers as parties, but did not serve Nunn, ostensibly because she lived in Florida and her attorney would not accept service on her behalf. Mid-Century settled with the other four passengers, paying them a total of $200,000 in return for releases from liability. Mid-Century retained $100,000, the limit of its lHiability to any single injured party under the insurance policy, to resolve Nunn's claim.
In November 2000, following unsuccessful efforts to settle with Mid-Century in excess of the policy limit, Nunn filed a lawsuit against James in federal court in Colorado. Mid-Century provided James a defense at its own expense, as required by the insurance policy. Nunn and James reached a settlement in August 2002, prior to trial. The following terms of that settlement agreement are relevant to the issue in this appeal:
e James, through Mid-Century, would pay Nunn $100,000.
e James and Nunn agreed that Nunn's damages as a result of the accident were $4,000,000.
eJames assigned to Nunn all claims he might have against Mid-Century for "the unpaid portion of the judgment...."
*1199 © Nunn agreed "not to record, execute on or otherwise attempt to enforce the judgments [sic] entered against James ... so long as James reasonably performs his obligations under [the settlement agreement] in good faith."
e James agreed to cooperate in a reasonable manner with Nunn and her attorneys in the prosecution of the bad faith suit against Mid-Century.
© Nunn would file a satisfaction of judgment even if she did not succeed in her bad faith suit against Mid-Century.
@The agreement stated: "Nothing in this agreement shall be construed as a release of any claim or party."
James sought and obtained Mid-Century's consent to enter into the settlement agreement, as required by the terms of the insurance policy to preserve James's coverage. Mid-Century's letter to Nunn's counsel stated: "Though Mid-Century ... is not a party to [the settlement agreement], we are granting ... James permission to enter the agreement as drafted." Mid-Century did not indicate that it agreed to the stipulated judgment or to pay any part of it.
Mid-Century paid Nunn $100,000 on James's behalf as contemplated by the settlement agreement. The federal court entered the stipulated judgment against James in the amount of $4,000,000, and dismissed Nunn's suit.
Nunn then filed this action against Mid-Century, claiming, as relevant here, that Mid-Century had breached its contractual duty to act in good faith toward James by failing to settle her case against him. As noted, the district court granted summary judgment for Mid-Century on the ground James did not suffer any recoverable damages by virtue of Mid-Century's failure to settle because he "faces no personal exposure under the settlement agreement" for the excess judgment.
II. Discussion
A. An Essential Element of Nunn's Claim Is That James Suffered Actual Damages
Colorado recognizes a cause of action in tort for an insurer's bad faith breach of its obligations under its contract with its insured. Goodson v. Am. Std. Ins. Co.,
The insurer's duty to its insured to act in good faith includes the obligation to act reasonably in the payment and settlement of claims. Goodson,
Recovery of damages for the tort of bad faith breach of an insurance contract is "based upon traditional tort principles of compensation for injuries actually suffered...." Ballow v. PHICO Ins. Co.,
The fact of actual damages must be proved with reasonable certainty. See Tull
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v. Gundersons, Inc.,
B. Damages Recoverable for Bad Faith Breach of an Insurance Contract
Where an insurer has breached its obligation to act in good faith, "[cJompensato-ry damages for economic and non-economic losses are available to make the insured whole and, where appropriate, punitive damages are available to punish the insurer and deter wrongful conduct by other insurers." Goodson, 89 P.8d at 415 (emphasis added). Economic compensatory damages may include, among other things: (1) a judgment within policy limits payable by the insured to a victim where the insurer has unreasonably denied coverage or refused to settle; (2) a judgment in excess of policy limits payable by the insured to the victim where the insurer has unreasonably denied coverage or refused to settle; (8) attorney fees and costs incurred by the insured in defending against the victim's claim where the insurer has unreasonably refused to provide the insured a defense; and (4) damage to an insured's credit caused by the recording of the victim's judgment against the insured where the insurer has unreasonably denied coverage or refused to settle. See 1 Allan D. Windt, Insurance Claims and Disputes §§ 4:83-4:35, 5:17, 5:21, 6:39, 6:40 (dth ed.2006) (hereinafter, Windt); William M. Shernoff, Sanford M. Gage & Harvey R. Levine, Insurance Bad Faith Litigation §§ 8:08[1]-[3], 7:04[8] (1992) (hereinafter, Shernoff).
Noneconomic compensatory damages recoverable for the insurer's bad faith breach "include emotional distress; pain and suffering; inconvenience; fear and anxiety; and impairment of the quality of life." Goodson,
In Colorado, punitive damages are not recoverable in the absence of actual (ie., compensatory) damages. See § 13-21-102(1)(a), C.R.S8.2008; White v. Hansen,
C. Assignment of Bad Faith Claims in Colorado
In Northland Ins. Co. v. Bashor,
The driver then sued the insurer for bad faith, claiming the insurer had unreasonably refused to settle the victim's claim for an amount within the policy limit. The insurer moved to limit the driver's potential recovery to $1,500, arguing that the driver had, through his agreement with the victim, essentially obtained a satisfaction of the judgment against him. The district court granted that motion and subsequently dismissed the case for failure to join an indispensable party (the victim). Id. at 464-66,
On appeal, a division of this court held, as relevant here, that the judgment against the driver had not been satisfied because the
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driver had not exhausted his legal remedies against the insurer, as required by the agreement between the driver and the victim, and because an award of $1,500 would not have made the driver whole under the distribution formula of the agreement absent a recovery against the insurer of the full $8,000.
The term "Bashor agreement" has since "been used to describe agreements whereby the insured formally assigns its claims against the insurer to the fvictim] in exchange for a covenant not to execute on the insured's assets." Old Republic Ins. Co. v. Ross,
In Ross v. Old Republic Ins. Co.,
It is therefore clear after the supreme court's decision in Old Republic that the mere fact that a Bashor agreement is entered into before a trial between the victim and the insured does not necessarily render that agreement unenforceable against the insurer. However, the supreme court in Old Republic did not address the issue raised in this case-whether such a pretrial agreement containing a covenant not to execute is enforceable notwithstanding that the excess stipulated judgment constitutes the only "damages" purportedly assigned. More simply put, the question here is whether James assigned any actual damages at all. We turn now to that question and answer "no."
D. James Did Not Assign Any Actual Damages to Nunn
As noted, James assigned to Nunn "the unpaid portion of the judgment." James did not purport to assign to Nunn any other economic damages or any noneconomic damages, and Nunn does not contend otherwise. As James's assignee, Nunn stands in no better position than James with respect to establishing the necessary elements of a bad faith claim. See Tivoli Ventures, Inc. v. Bumann,
In Serna v. Kingston Enterprises,
The district court granted summary judgment in the employer's favor on grounds not relevant here. On appeal, the division affirmed the summary judgment "because there is no realistic prospect of the passengers executing on the judgment ..." Id. at 880. The division reasoned that because the employee had not paid the judgment, and there was no reason to believe she ever would, she had not been damaged. Id.
Nunn attempts to distinguish Serna on the basis that it involved an indemnity claim, not a claim for bad faith breach of an insurance contract. She relies on the source and nature of the duty an insurer owes to its insured.
Nunu's attempt to distinguish Serna does not withstand serutiny, for at least three reasons. First, the division's holding in Ser-na was not based on any unique aspect of the source or nature of the duty to indemnify. Rather, it was based expressly on the rule an indemnity claim may not be maintained unless the claimant has incurred damages, " 'either through payment of a sum clearly owed or through the injured party's obtaining an enforceable judgment."" Id. (quoting Perry v. Pioneer Wholesale Supply Co.,
Second, Nunn's reliance on the nature of the relationship between the parties conflates the elements of wrongful conduct and damages. To maintain a tort action it is not enough to establish that a tortfeasor, even one owing quasi-fiduciary duties to another, has behaved in violation of its duties. As discussed above, no action may be maintained against the tortfeasor absent actual damages proximately caused by the violation of those duties. See Goodson,
Third, the concerns faced by James in the event he proceeded to trial were the same as those faced by the employee in Serna. Both faced the prospect of immense liability and the consequences flowing therefrom. However, in both cases the prospective liability for an excess judgment never materialized (and would never materialize) because of the respective settlements. A prospect of damages is not actual damages. While the prospect of incurring certain damages may cause an insured to incur certain noneconomic damages (such as emotional distress), it is undisputed here that James did not assign any such damages to Nunn.
In Old Republic, the court noted the division's holding in Serna, but concluded that it presented different cireumstances from those in the case before it. Old Republic,
In Hamilton v. Maryland Casualty Co.,
Here, though Mid-Century chose to allow James to enter into the settlement agreement, it was not a party to that agreement and it expressly did not agree to the stipulated judgment. Further, James could be *1203 subjected to personal exposure on the excess judgment only if he breached his (very limited) obligations under the settlement agreement. In that unlikely event, James would be damaged because of his own fault, not any fault of Mid-Century. Thus, the remote possibility Nunn could enforce the judgment against James is both quantitatively and qualitatively insufficient to say the excess judgment constitutes damages caused by Mid-Century's tortious conduct.
A significant number of courts in other jurisdictions have held-as the California Supreme Court did in Hamilton-that in circumstances such as those in this case, there are no actual damages arising from the insurer's alleged conduct. E.g., Mercado v. Allstate Ins. Co.,
Some of these cases also address and reject as practically meaningless the distinction urged here by Nunn between a release and a covenant not to execute. Though an excess judgment is a type of compensatory damages, if the victim has agreed not to execute on that judgment against the insured, the insured has not, in any real sense, incurred a liability as a result of the insurer's conduct for which he or she needs to be compensated in order to be made whole. See Clement,
Therefore, we disagree with Nunn that it matters here that the settlement agreement contained a provision stating: "Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as a release of any claim or party." The agreement expressly provides that Nunn will not execute against James, and Nunn concedes the parties' intent was that James would not have to pay the judgment. Thus, the disclaimer in the agreement is plainly nothing more than an attempt to preserve Nunu's ability to argue the technical distinction between a release and a covenant not to execute.
One prominent commentator in this field has referred to the decisions denying recovery in these circumstances as expressing the "better rule," Windt, § 5:20, at 554, and we agree with that assessment. This rule is consistent with fundamental principles applicable to the recovery of compensatory damages proximately eaused by the tort of another.
Nunn cites a number of cases which she contends have resolved this issue in her favor. However, none of the cases on which Nunn relies involved the precise cireum-stances here, where: (1) the insurer never denied coverage; (2) the insurer never refused to provide the insured a defense; (8) the insurer agreed to pay policy limits from the outset; (4) the settlement agreement was entered into before any finding by a finder of fact as to liability or damages; (5) the judgment was one to which the victim and the insured stipulated; (6) the stipulated judgment is in excess of the policy limit; and (7) under the terms of the settlement agreement, it was virtually certain that the victim would not attempt to collect the excess judgment from the insured. See Strahin,
For example, in the leading case of Dam-ron v. Sledge,
In Red Giant Oil Co. v. Lawlor,
The decisions on which Nunn relies are most frequently grounded on a distinction between a release and a covenant not to execute. These courts reason that, unlike a release, a covenant not to execute does not extinguish the underlying liability for the damages. See, eg., Red Giant Oil Co.,
The courts that have decided the cases on which Nunn relies also frequently opine that allowing an assignee to recover the excess judgment (or some reasonable portion thereof) in similar cirenmstances serves the salutary purpose of allowing insureds to protect themselves from the consequences of wrongful behavior by their insurers. Seq, eg., Damron,
Finally, we reject Nunn's argument that the supreme court's decision in Trimble supports her position. In Trimble, the court rejected the argument that "absent actual exposure of an insured to a judgment in exeess of policy limits, there can be no breach of the duty of good faith by the insurer." Trimble,
III. Conclusion
In sum, James did not assign any actual damages to Nunn. Regardless of the allegedly wrongful nature of an insurer's conduct, we cannot effectively dispense with the fundamental requirement that a party show ac *1205 tual damages to maintain a bad faith claim. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court did not err in granting summary judgment in Mid-Century's favor.
The judgment is affirmed.
