Barnard v. Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co.
Barnard v. Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co.
Opinion of the Court
This case involves a claim for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits. Plaintiff Michelle Barnard has a personal automobile policy with Defendant Travelers Home and Marine Insurance Company. Two vehicles are insured under the policy, creating the option to "stack" benefits, which would aggregate the limits of UIM coverage on both vehicles in the event of a claim, effectively doubling the amount of coverage available. Under Pennsylvania's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL), a carrier is required to offer stacked benefits when a policy holder purchases insurance, and to secure a written waiver if stacking is rejected. Here, Plaintiff signed a waiver of stacked benefits when the policy was originally issued, but two years later sought a higher level of UIM benefits. Because this transaction specifically involved a request for additional UIM protection, I am persuaded that the language in the statute should be given its plain meaning, and find that case law addressing different kinds of insurance transactions is not controlling here. A written waiver was required, and in its absence the policy is deemed to provide stacked benefits as a matter of law.
I. Controlling Standard
This Motion is governed by the well-established standard for summary judgment set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), as amplified by Celotex Corporation v. Catrett ,
II. Pertinent Facts
Plaintiff Michelle Barnard has held automobile insurance coverage with Defendant Travelers since September 2007. When Plaintiff first secured the policy, she had uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage limits of $50,000 per person for *635each of the two vehicles covered. For an insured with more than one vehicle,
Each named insured purchasing uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage for more than one vehicle under a policy shall be provided the opportunity to waive the stacked limits of coverage and instead purchase coverage as described in subsection (b). The premiums for an insured who exercises such waiver shall be reduced to reflect the different cost of such coverage.
§ 1738(c) (emphasis added).
There is no dispute that Plaintiff signed a written waiver of stacked benefits upon initial purchase of her policy, with the result that the maximum she or anyone else insured could recover in UIM benefits was $50,000. If Plaintiff had stacked her UIM benefits at that time, the available UIM coverage would have totaled $100,000 per person. The parties have stipulated that in May 2009, Plaintiff increased her UIM limits to $100,000 per person, and that Travelers did not secure a separate signed waiver of stacking at that time. Travelers therefore contends that the coverage is unstacked.
Plaintiff was later injured in a car accident on June 17, 2016. The third party motorist responsible for the accident maintained insurance coverage with the minimum limit required by law-$15,000-and tendered the full amount. Plaintiff then filed a claim for underinsured motorist coverage with Travelers, which in turn tendered $100,000 in UIM benefits, the per person limit applicable to a single car under Plaintiff's policy.
Barnard rejected this tender on the ground that stacked limits were available by operation of law because of Traveler's failure to secure a written waiver of stacking when she increased the limits of her UIM coverage in 2009. This litigation followed.
III. Discussion
This case turns on the meaning of the term "purchase" as used by Section 1738(c) of the MVFRL. There is no Pennsylvania case directly on point.
The rules of statutory construction are virtually identical under both state and federal law. Under Pennsylvania's Statutory Construction Act, the goal is to "ascertain and effectuate the intention of the General Assembly,"
*636Rosenberg v. XM Ventures ,
Section 1783 refers to "purchasing uninsured or underinsured coverage for more than one vehicle." On the stipulated facts here, I am persuaded that Plaintiff made a purchase of UIM coverage with limits of $100,000 per person in May 2009. It was a "purchase" in that Plaintiff requested a new, higher limit of UIM coverage, for which Travelers charged a higher premium. With respect to the UIM coverage, Plaintiff's premium as of 2016 was almost double the premium first charged in 2007.
In common usage, to purchase means to buy-to acquire something by paying for it. Travelers contends that the transaction should be characterized as an "alteration" of limits, but that ignores the fact that Plaintiff here paid for a level of UIM insurance that was different from what she had previously purchased, and for which she paid a different and higher premium. As an insurance "product," the May 2009 policy was distinct from the May 2007 version that preceded it. In short, a "plain meaning" analysis of the literal terms of the statute would support the conclusion that an opportunity for a waiver of stacking was required.
The question then becomes whether case law applying the statute compels a different result. Although the issue is a close one, I am not persuaded that the language of the statute can be ignored when the transaction in question specifically involves a change in UIM coverage as compared to some other aspect of the policy. The parties acknowledge that there is no case directly on point, and argue by way of analogy. I am convinced that such case law as there is favors a literal reading of Section 1738 in this context.
Travelers relies heavily upon Sackett v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company ,
That explicit limitation on the scope of the Court's modification is understandable, because its change of position was not based on the conclusion that it had erred in construing the statute but rather was a function of public policy concerns not present *637outside of situations involving newly purchased vehicles. The Insurance Commissioner persuasively argued that Sackett I would frustrate the MVFRL's purpose of ensuring mandatory coverage for motorists. The MVFRL generally requires that motorists maintain "financial responsibility" for any vehicle operated or registered,
More telling for purposes of this case is that the Court left Sackett I intact under other circumstances. For a policy with terms that expressly make an after-acquired-vehicle clause "finite," the Court explained, Sackett I continued to govern. For such a policy, Sackett I requires execution of a new stacking waiver "upon the expiration of the automatic coverage" for the initial unstacked terms to remain effective. Id. at 19-20,
Significantly, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has recognized the continued vitality of Sackett I , holding in two recent cases that when an insured acquires a new vehicle and simultaneously notifies the insurer, the acquisition would not trigger an insurance policy's after-acquired-vehicle clause, meaning that the insurer must provide a new stacking waiver. See Bumbarger v. Peerless Indem. Ins. Co. ,
The cases that Travelers cites do not involve a direct purchase of UIM coverage, nor do they directly involve Section 1738. Rather, they involve other types of transactions which the insured then attempted to argue had implications for stacking or an insurer's notice requirements. For example, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has held that when the plaintiff increased the liability coverage under the policy, the insurer had no obligation to provide the insured a new rejection notice or form. Smith v. Hartford Ins. Co. ,
Travelers also places great emphasis on Rupert v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. ,
It is clear therefore that, under Sackett I , the obligation to secure a waiver is not limited to the inception of the policy, and equally clear that the principles of Sackett I continue to be enforced by Pennsylvania's appellate courts. In that regard, I find it significant that the Superior Court has enforced Sackett I even in the context of after-acquired vehicles added to an existing policy, an area the Insurance Commissioner had identified as one of concern, where the language of the policy did not bring the case within the specific scope of Sackett II. See Bumbarger ,
Shipp v. Phoenix Insurance Company ,
Travelers finally contends that I should consider the policy implications of a decision in Plaintiff's favor, arguing that it will have a negative impact on the insurance marketplace. In support of that position, it submits nothing more than the Brief of the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner filed in Sackett some eleven years ago. Def.'s Ex. D, ECF No. 10-1 at 103. I am hard-pressed to conclude that conditions in the marketplace at that time shed meaningful light on conditions prevailing today, and Travelers does not attempt to explain how a decision in Barnard's favor would portend widespread disruption. The buying and selling of automobiles is a major engine of commerce and such a frequent occurrence that policies are drafted in recognition of that fact. The volume of requests to change coverage limits in existing policies cannot possibly compare. Beyond that, the concerns raised by the Commissioner did not cause the Supreme Court to vacate Sackett I , only to modify it, and Sackett I is central to my decision here. More tellingly, the Commissioner did not seek rehearing or seek to intervene in Bumbarger (an en banc decision), Pergolese , or Shipp , later decisions on which Plaintiff relies. Nor did the Commissioner join in the carrier's appeal to the Supreme Court in Pergolese . As Plaintiff aptly points out, the MVFRL balanced the competing goals of cost containment with affording the greatest possible coverage to insureds. See Lucas v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. ,
Having considered both the language of the statute, and the available precedent, I conclude that Plaintiff made a purchase of underinsured coverage in 2009, such that a written waiver was required. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgement will be granted and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment denied, with an appropriate order reforming the policy.
Plaintiff started this action in state court, and it was removed by Travelers. Despite the dearth of Pennsylvania precedent, neither party has suggested that I abstain and remand the case to state court.
It bears mention that the Court of Appeals had certified the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Rupert v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Michelle BARNARD v. The TRAVELERS HOME AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY
- Status
- Published