Tannone v. Amica Mut. Ins. Co.
Tannone v. Amica Mut. Ins. Co.
Opinion of the Court
**667In these appeals, we again consider whether an automobile insurance policy containing underinsured motorist coverage, as required by state law, can validly exclude benefits to the insured when the owner of the underinsured vehicle is a rental car company designated as a "self-insurer" by the Insurance Commissioner (commissioner) pursuant to General Statutes § 38a-371 (c). We first addressed this issue in Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. ,
The factual setting in the present case is similar to that in Orkney , but the legislative landscape has changed. In both the present case and in Orkney , the plaintiff insureds were injured by an underinsured lessee driving a rental car owned by a self-insured rental car company. See id., at 197-99,
Since our decision in Orkney , however, Congress passed legislation prohibiting rental car companies from being held vicariously liable for the negligence of their lessees. Specifically, Title 49 of the 2012 edition of the United States Code, § 30106 (a), commonly known as the Graves Amendment; see Rodriguez v. Testa ,
**669We are therefore asked in these appeals to reassess, in light of this development in federal law, whether § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, which authorizes the self-insurer exclusions in these insurance policies, remains valid as applied to rental car companies. We conclude that, in this scenario, the state regulation conflicts with the public policy manifested in General Statutes § 38a-336 (a) (1) that requires insurance policies to provide underinsured motorist coverage, and, thus, § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the regulations is invalid as applied.
I
The following undisputed facts and procedural history are relevant to this appeal.
*103The plaintiffs, Sandra and Patrick Tannone, were lawfully crossing the street when they were struck and seriously injured by an automobile. That automobile was a rental car owned by EAN Holdings, LLC, more commonly known as Enterprise Rent-A-Car (Enterprise). Enterprise had leased the vehicle to Barbara Wasilesky, but she was not driving at the time of the collision. The vehicle was instead operated by a permitted user named Arthur Huffman.
Wasilesky, the lessee, was the named insured on an automobile insurance liability policy that provided bodily injury coverage in the amounts of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per occurrence-the minimum allowable in Connecticut at the time. General Statutes §§ 38a-336 (a) (1) and 14-112 (a).
At the time of the collision, the defendant, Amica Mutual Insurance Company (Amica), insured the plaintiffs through separate policies. Each of their policies carried $500,000 of coverage for personal injuries sustained due to the negligence of an underinsured driver.
After settling with Wasilesky and Huffman, the plaintiffs commenced this consolidated action to recover underinsured motorist benefits from their own insurance policies issued by the defendant. In response, the defendant asserted special defenses, including that the policies do not afford underinsured motorist benefits **671when the tortfeasor's vehicle is owned by a self-insurer. The defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the vehicle driven by Huffman was owned by a self-insurer, Enterprise, and because the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that they had exhausted their remedy from Enterprise. In support of *104the validity of the exclusion, the defendant pointed to § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, which expressly authorizes such exclusions, and to Orkney v. Hanover Inc. Co. , supra,
The plaintiffs then appealed from the judgments of the trial court to the Appellate Court, and this court transferred the appeals to itself. See General Statutes § 51-199 (c) ; Practice Book § 65-1. Because a trial court's decision granting a motion for summary judgment and issues of statutory construction present questions of law, our review on appeal is plenary. See, e.g., Rodriguez v. Testa , supra,
The plaintiffs claim that the self-insured exclusion in their underinsured motorist coverage does not apply to Enterprise due to the fact that the regulation authorizing that exclusion, § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, is invalid as applied to Enterprise because Enterprise cannot be held liable **672following the Graves Amendment. See Giglio v. American Economy Ins. Co. ,
II
We first consider the interconnected legislative, regulatory, and public policy backdrop confronting us in this appeal, including how that backdrop has changed. Our state law requires all motor vehicle owners to maintain a minimum amount of automobile liability insurance coverage. General Statutes § 38a-335 (a). The legislature understood that some motorists will not comply with this law, however. Thus, to protect properly insured motorists from the negligence of financially irresponsible motorists, our state law expressly provides that every automobile insurance policy must provide its insured with a minimum amount of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage as provided for in § 14-112 (a). General Statutes § 38a-336 (a) (1) (A) ("[e]ach automobile liability insurance policy shall provide insurance, herein called uninsured and underinsured *105**673motorist coverage ... for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages because of bodily injury, including death resulting therefrom, from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles and underinsured motor vehicles"). Our state has consistently maintained a "strong public policy favoring uninsured motorist coverage ... since 1967 ...." Streitweiser v. Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. ,
The rationale behind this policy is "to reward those who obtain insurance coverage for the benefit of those they might injure." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., at 824,
As stated previously, Wasilesky maintained only the minimum required amount of coverage at the time of the collision: $20,000 per person and $40,000 per collision. The plaintiffs' policies grant underinsured motorist benefits when the tortfeasor "does carry [l]iability **674insurance but the amount of insurance available under that motorist's policy is less than the amount of [u]ninsured [m]otorists coverage you have selected." They allege entitlement to underinsured motorist benefits in this instance because their damages exceed the amount of the recovery from Wasilesky's policy.
The manner in which an insurer provides underinsured motorist coverage to its policyholders is regulated by §§ 38a-334 (a) and 38a-336 (a) (1) (A), which authorize the commissioner to adopt regulations that "relate to," among other things, "insuring agreements, exclusions ... and [under]insured motorists coverages under such policies ...." General Statutes § 38a-334 (a). Ordinarily, "an insurer may not, by contract, reduce its liability for ... uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage," unless authorized by § 38a-334-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
One authorized exclusion under the regulations to the requirement for underinsured motorist coverage is when "the uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle is owned by ... a self insurer under any motor vehicle law ...." (Emphasis added.) Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B). The defendant has included such an exclusion in the policies it issued to the plaintiffs. Specifically, those policies exclude from the term " 'uninsured motor vehicle' " any vehicle "owned ... by a self-insurer under any applicable motor vehicle *106law ...." (Emphasis added.) A person may qualify as a self-insurer if "more than twenty-five motor vehicles are registered" in his name and he has obtained "a certificate of self-insurance issued by the commissioner ...." General Statutes § 14-129 (a). The commissioner **675has "discretion" to grant self-insurer applications and issue a certificate of self-insurance "when he is satisfied that such person is possessed and will continue to be possessed of ability to pay judgments obtained against such person." (Emphasis added.) General Statutes § 14-129 (b). To prove this ability, self-insurers must file evidence with the commissioner that their financial security is substantially equivalent to an insurance policy. General Statutes § 38a-371 (c). In short, the key to obtaining self-insurer status is to "demonstrate ... the ability to pay judgments rendered ... as a result of the operation of the motor vehicle." Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
There is no dispute that the commissioner has designated Enterprise as a self-insurer. But now, after Congress passed the Graves Amendment, Enterprise cannot be held vicariously liable for the negligence of its customers. The relevant legislative landscape has thus changed since our decision in Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
In Orkney , the case the defendant principally relies upon, we addressed the question of whether § 38a-334-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies validly permitted an insurer to exclude underinsured motorist coverage from a policy when the tortfeasor's vehicle was owned by a self-insurer. Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
We concluded in Orkney that § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies validly authorized "the exclusion of vehicles owned by self-insurers from the scope of the underinsured motorist coverage provided by an automobile liability insurance policy." Id., at 202,
We recognized in Orkney , however, that the underinsured motorist statute, § 38a-336, "does not require that [under]insured motorist coverage be made available when the insured has been otherwise protected ...." (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., at 205,
Six years after Orkney , however, Congress passed the Graves Amendment, which provides in relevant part that a rental car company that owns a vehicle "shall not be liable under the law of any [s]tate ... for harm to persons or property that ... arises out of the use, operation, or possession of the vehicle during the period of the rental or lease," unless there is "negligence or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the owner ...."
The Graves Amendment has therefore fundamentally changed our legislative and regulatory landscape. Now, injured parties are precluded by federal statute from seeking compensation from rental car companies as self-insurers, undercutting the primary rationale on which Orkney was decided. And now, the injured party's inability to seek compensation from the self-insurer has created an "inconsisten[cy] between the public policy underlying underinsured motorist coverage and [the] regulation that permits a coverage exclusion" for self-insurers that did not exist at the time we decided Orkney . Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
The federal legislation that upset our state regulatory structure regarding underinsured motorist coverage therefore results in an impermissible contradiction between our state statutes and regulations. On the one hand, § 38a-336 (a) (1) (A) requires underinsured motorist coverage *108while, on the other hand, § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies permits the exclusion of underinsured motorist coverage as to vehicles owned by self-insurers-now without a substitute remedy. Although the defendant is correct that state regulations are ordinarily given "great deference" and are generally presumed to accurately reflect legislative intent; (internal quotation marks omitted) Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
In the present case, the plaintiffs made every effort to insure against the risk of the very injuries they sustained. Their insurance policies contain the mandatory underinsured motorist coverage. They did not know-and could not control-that the underinsured motorist who collided with them would be the lessee of a rental car, the owner of which enjoys federal immunity from vicarious liability and, yet, whose status as a self-insurer under state law triggered an exclusion in the plaintiffs' policies that would foreclose their recovery from the defendant. Taking into account the Graves Amendment, the uninsured and underinsured motorist statutes, related state regulations, and the underlying public policy of providing those injured by underinsured motorists with a remedy, we conclude that § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies now is inconsistent with the public policy of § 38a-336 and, thus, is invalid as applied. Giglio v. American Economy Ins. Co. , supra,
**680III
The plaintiffs advance other public policy arguments that dovetail with or bolster our conclusion that, as applied in this case, § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies conflicts with the underinsured motorist statute. Specifically, they argue that, after the Graves Amendment, "Enterprise cannot be considered a self-insurer ... [and] [t]herefore, the self-insurer exclusion [contained in the defendant's policies] does not apply." If it did, they claim, the exclusion would violate the public policy of this state. We agree.
A recent decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court is instructive.
*109Martin v. Powers ,
We are similarly confident. Enterprise, as a matter of law, could not be a self-insurer as to the class of risks in the present case because it is statutorily immune from liability for such risks. See
**682In light of the Graves Amendment, construing Enterprise as a self-insurer in this context would contravene our public policy. If we were to interpret Enterprise's self-insurer status to exist as to damages caused by its lessees, it would demand that we honor the coexistence of § 38a-336 (a) (1) (A) and § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. We have concluded previously *110in this opinion that § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) of the regulations contravenes the public policy articulated in § 38a-336 (a) (1) (A), the underinsured motorist statute, under the present circumstances. Similarly, to enforce the contract of insurance as the defendant would have us construe it would lead to an unworkable outcome and would itself violate public policy. See Geysen v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.,
IV
The defendant nevertheless argues that legislative and administrative acquiescence dictates that the legislature intended not to disturb the self-insurer exclusion despite the opportunity and ability to do so after the Graves Amendment took effect in 2005. It is true that there have been amendments to § 38a-336 after the enactment of the Graves Amendment and that the legislature has not taken action to address the self-insurer exclusion. In another case in which we discussed the public policy behind uninsured motorist coverage, however, we were "unpersuaded that legislative inaction invariably warrants recognition as a reliable indicator of legislative intent." Streitweiser v. Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. , supra,
Taking into account the Graves Amendment, the uninsured and underinsured motorist statutes, related state regulations, and underlying public policy, we therefore conclude that rental car companies may not be deemed self-insurers as to the negligence of their lessees. Accordingly, Enterprise was not self-insured as to the present risk, and the application of the underinsured motorist exclusions in the plaintiffs' policies would contravene the public policy articulated in **684*111§ 38a-336 (a) (1) (A).
The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the case is remanded to that court with direction to deny the defendant's motions for summary judgment and for further proceedings.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
Orkney interpreted § 38a-334-6 of the 1999 revision of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, which excluded only "uninsured motor vehicle[s]" owned by self-insurers. In response to a claim in that case that the regulation did not permit the exclusion of underinsured motor vehicles, this court stated that "the statutes and regulations applicable to uninsured motorist coverage also apply to underinsured motorist coverage.... [T]herefore ... § 38a-334-6 (c) (2) (B) [of the 1999 revision of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies] authorizes the exclusion of vehicles owned by self-insurers from the scope of the underinsured motorist coverage provided by an automobile liability insurance policy." (Citations omitted.) Orkney v. Hanover Ins. Co. , supra,
In 2017, the General Assembly increased the minimum coverage amounts to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence, effective January 1, 2018. General Statutes (Supp. 2018) § 14-112 (a).
We note there is an inconsistency in the record about the factual circumstances surrounding this settlement. The plaintiffs' brief states that the settlement was with Huffman and Wasilesky for the total limits of Wasilesky's policy: $20,000 per person and $40,000 per occurrence. The plaintiffs' amended complaints allege that they settled with only Huffman's insurer for the full amount of his coverage. Meanwhile, the trial court's memorandum of decision appears to indicate that the plaintiffs received the full amount of coverage from Wasilesky's policy. Nothing about the terms of this settlement affects our disposition of these appeals. Upon remand, if material to any dispute, the trial court can sort out the amount and source of available coverage.
Patrick Tannone was also insured for underinsured motorist conversion coverage, which means that any underinsured motorist benefits he is entitled to from the defendant will not be reduced by the amount recovered from the legally responsible parties. Although Patrick Tannone's conversion coverage, and Sandra Tannone's lack thereof, may make a difference in their potential recovery if they prevail in the trial court on remand, it does not affect our present analysis, and we therefore will not address it in this opinion.
We note that we are not overruling Orkney . Rather, because the Graves Amendment has preempted state law, the rationale in Orkney perforce has limited applicability. Orkney still applies, however, to other types of underinsured motorist claims where the self-insurer exclusion is unaffected by the Graves Amendment, such as when a plaintiff alleges direct negligence or criminal wrongdoing on the part of a self-insured owner or when the self-insured owner is not a rental car company. See
Although Enterprise is not a self-insurer as to the risk in the present case, we do not conclude, as the defendant suggests, that Enterprise and other rental car companies are altogether not self-insurers. Enterprise would be a self-insurer when there is a claim of direct liability-as opposed to vicarious liability-brought against it. For example, in cases of "negligence or criminal wrongdoing," self-insurance still applies to rental car companies because those claims are exempt from the Graves Amendment.
The defendant asserts that by reaching this conclusion we are usurping the legislature's authority to either amend or repeal our statutory framework in light of the Graves Amendment, or the commissioner's authority to determine who may be a self-insurer under the state regulations. To the contrary, we are neither legislating from the bench nor striking down the regulation. Rather, we are appropriately undertaking the judicial responsibility of vindicating our legislature's public policy, articulated in state statute, to which both a regulation and a contract must give way when they are in conflict with that statute.
Reference
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- Patrick TANNONE v. AMICA MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY Sandra Tannone v. Amica Mutual Insurance Company
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