RUMBIN V. UTICA MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
757 A.2d 526 (2000)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Utica (D), the issuer of the annuity contract, appealed the judgment
of the Superior Court, which approved the transfer by Rumbin (P), assignor of payments due
to him under an annuity issued pursuant to the structured settlement agreement.
FACTS: Under the terms of a settlement agreement, P was entitled to receive $52,000
within thirty days of its execution, thirty semiannual payments of $1323.09 beginning on
March 6, 1999, and a final lump sum payment of $44,000 on March 6, 2014. P has not claimed
that the annuity contract is a contract of adhesion. Approximately six months after the
execution of the settlement agreement and the issuance of the annuity, P had become
unemployed and faced a mortgage foreclosure action against his home, where he lived with his
family. In order to resolve his financial troubles, P decided to sell his right to the
annuity payments. P filed a declaratory judgment action seeking court approval to transfer
his right to the remaining annuity payments to Wentworth in exchange for a lump sum payment
and other consideration. Safeco objected to the assignment, claiming that because the
annuity contract contained an antiassignment provision, P.A. 98-238 was inapplicable. D
neither appeared at that hearing, nor provided an explanation for its failure to appear, and
the trial court issued an order of default for failure to appear against D. The court
concluded that P.A. 98-238 invalidated antiassignment provisions and allowed payees to
transfer their rights to future payments under structured settlement agreements when the
statutory requirements were met. The trial court found that the proposed sale of the annuity
payments was in the best interests of P, and was fair and reasonable to all interested
parties. The court rejected Safeco's claim concerning the applicability of the
antiassignment provision, and rendered judgment approving the transfer of the P's annuity
payments to Wentworth. Safeco appealed from the trial court's judgment to the Appellate
Court.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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