Dermer v. Wayne, Unpublished Decision (4-4-2000)
Dermer v. Wayne, Unpublished Decision (4-4-2000)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
On November 1, 1995, appellant, Mildred Dermer, was involved in an automobile accident wherein she was the passenger and the tortfeasor, John D. Wayne, was the driver. Ms. Dermer sustained injuries as a result of the accident. Owner of the vehicle was Ann Dermer. Said vehicle was insured under a policy issued to Ann Dermer by appellee, Globe American Casualty Company. The policy had uninsured/underinsured limits of $12,500 per person and $25,000 per accident. On October 24, 1997, appellant, together with her two children, filed a complaint against appellee, Mr. Wayne and Ann Dermer. Appellants claimed negligence and loss of consortium and sought money damages under the uninsured/underinsured portion of appellee's policy. On June 7, 1999, appellants filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming each member of appellant's family was entitled to assert their own loss of consortium claim and each claim was individually subject to the per person limit of coverage under the uninsured/underinsured portion of appellee's policy. Appellants also challenged the constitutionality of the applicable statutes. On July 13, 1999, appellee filed a motion for summary judgment claiming the maximum recoverable amount under its policy was the per person limit of $12,500. By memorandum of decision filed September 21, 1999, the trial court noted the only claims still pending were the consortium claims of appellant's two children and the only issue for determination was whether recovery was available under the uninsured/underinsured portion of appellee's policy. The trial court went on to find the applicable statutes were constitutional. The trial court granted appellee's motion for summary judgment and denied appellants' motion. Final judgment was entered via judgment entry filed October 5, 1999. Appellants filed an appeal and this matter is now before this court for consideration. Assignments of error are as follows:I THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN HOLDING THAT CONSORTIUM CLAIMANTS HAVE NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF RECOVERY WHEN THE U.I.M. POLICY LIMITS ARE EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN THE LIMITS OF THE TORTFEASOR.
II THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN HOLDING THAT CONSORTIUM CLAIMANTS HAVE NO RIGHT OF RECOVERY SINCE THE AMOUNT AVAILABLE FOR PAYMENT TO THE CONSORTIUM CLAIMANT IS ZERO.
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Further guidance is provided this court by the Fifth District Court of Appeals which, under the statutory authorization of Ohio Revised Code section
Appellants' arguments herein were also addressed by this court in Stickney v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (October 19, 1998), Richland App. No 98CA7, unreported, and Jones v. Speelman (August 31, 1998), Stark App. No. 1998CA00093, unreported. We note the undersigned counsel of appellants herein was also counsel of record in the Stickney appeal. In Stickney at 3-4, this court reviewed a Section
Although the Ohio Supreme Court did not pass upon this issue in Beagle v. Walton (sic) (1997),
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Based upon Chief Justice Moyer's reasoning in his dissent in Savoie [v. Grange Mut. Ins. Co. (1993),
In Jones, this court reviewed a trial court's decision that a provision in the applicable insurance policy limiting the loss of consortium claims to a single per person limit was unenforceable. In reversing this decision, this court reviewed the argument that R.C.
Based upon the foregoing, we find the trial court did not err in finding the applicable statutes were constitutional. Assignment of Error I is denied.
1. The limit for `each person' is the maximum amount we will pay for all damages for bodily injury to one person in one accident. Damages for bodily injury to one person includes all injury and damages to others resulting from that bodily injury including, but not limited to: loss of society, loss of companionship, loss of services, loss of consortium and wrongful death.
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There shall be no stacking of the limit of liability shown in the Declarations for coverage and that limit is the maximum amount we will pay for all damages for bodily injury from any one accident, regardless of the number of:
a. Insured persons or insured cars; b. Claims made or causes of action that arise; c. Separate premiums charged for this coverage on different insured cars; or d. Vehicles involved in the accident.
Based upon these provisions and our decision relative to "limiting language" in Stickney, we find the trial court did not err in finding appellants were entitled to only the per person coverage limit of $12,500.
Assignment of Error II is denied.
The judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Fairfield County, Ohio is hereby affirmed.
____________________________________ FARMER, J.
GWIN, P.J. and MILLIGAN, V.J. concur.
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