We granted the parties’ joint Rule 9 T.R.A.P. application to determine the validity of a provision contained in an automobile insurance policy issued by Appellant Haulers Insurance Company. The provision at issue purported to limit the amount of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage available to an injured insured in certain cases to “the highest limit of uninsured motorists coverage on an auto owned by the insured.” Inasmuch as the named insured, Value Auto Mart, Inc., did not select lower limits of such coverage in writing as required by this state’s uninsured/underinsured motorist statutes, we conclude that the provision is invalid and, thus, we affirm the trial court’s order denying Haulers’ motion for summary judgment on this issue.
For purposes of these summary judgment proceedings, the following facts were undisputed. In April 1995, Plaintiff/Appellee Randall Ray Fleming was involved in an automobile accident while he was driving an automobile owned by the named insured, Auto Mart. Plaintiff/Appellee Jack Davis, Jr., was a passenger in the Auto Mart automobile. The driver of the other automobile, Defendant/Appellee Jacqueline Yi, was allegedly at fault in the accident. Yi, however, was considered to be an underinsured motorist because her automobile insurance policy provided for the minimum uninsured/under-insured motorist coverages of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. See T.C.A. §§ 55 — 12—102(12)(C)(ii), 55-12-107(a) (1993). Accordingly, Fleming and Davis sought to recover their respective damages under the uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) provisions of Auto Mart’s automobile insurance policy. Neither Fleming nor Davis had an individual automobile insurance policy.
Auto Mart’s policy, as issued by Haulers, provided both liability and UM coverages in the amount of $300,000. As pertinent, however, the policy purported to limit the amount of UM coverage available when an insured was injured while occupying an automobile not owned by the insured. Specifically, the policy contained the following provision:
D. LIMIT OF INSURANCE
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2. The most we will pay for all damages resulting from “bodily injury” to an “insured” when the “insured” is “occupying” an “auto” not owned by the “insured,” or is not “occupying” any “auto,” is the highest limit of uninsured motorists coverage on an “auto” owned by the “insured.”
Citing this policy provision, Haulers denied UM coverage to Fleming and Davis and moved for summary judgment on the coverage issue. For purposes of its summary judgment motion, Haulers conceded that both Fleming and Davis met the definition of an “insured” under the policy, and that both insureds sustained damages in excess of the *870 amount available under Yi’s policy. Haulers contended, however, that neither Fleming nor Davis were covered under Auto Mart’s policy because neither insured had UM coverage on a self-owned automobile. The trial court denied Haulers’ motion for summary judgment, thus precipitating this Rule 9 application.
In Tennessee, the law is well-established that “any statute applicable to an insurance policy becomes part of the policy and such statutory provisions override and supersede anything in the policy repugnant to the provisions of the statute.”
Hermitage Health & Life Ins. Co. v. Cagle,
As we stated in
Dunn v. Hackett,
In
Dunn v. Hackett,
the provisions of the subject automobile insurance policy did not expressly include UM coverage for vehicles based in Tennessee.
Dunn v. Hackett,
In contending that the trial court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment, Haulers cites several cases in which the courts of this state upheld policy provisions which excluded UM coverage in certain situa-
*871
Rons or provisions which reduced an insured’s recovery by amounts received from other sources.
See Dockins v. Balboa Ins. Co.,
We conclude that the foregoing decisions are inapposite to the present appeal. Unlike the provisions in the cited cases, the provision in this case does not purport to be an exclusionary provision or an offset provision. The provision does not expressly exclude coverage in certain situations, nor does it reduce an insured’s recovery by amounts received from other sources. Instead, the policy provision at issue purports to lower the policy’s limits of UM coverage to a certain amount as established by the provisions of a separate policy, regardless of whether the insured has recovered any amounts from other sources. Inasmuch as the named insured, Auto Mart, did not select such lower limits in writing as required by the UM statutes, we hold that the subject provision cannot stand.
Haulers also contends that the policy provision at issue is presumptively valid because the provision has been approved by this state’s insurance commissioner. Our supreme court, however, has made it clear that, although the insurance commissioner’s approval is a factor to be considered, such approval is not conclusive in determining the validity of a policy provision.
Hill v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co.,
The trial court’s judgment is affirmed, and this cause is remanded for further proceedings. Costs of this appeal are taxed to Appellant, for which execution may issue if necessary.
Notes
. See T.C.A. § 56-7-1201(a)(l) (1994) (providing that the limits of UM coverage "shall be equal to the bodily injury liability limits stated in the policy”).
. Section 56-7-1201(a)(2) provides that
[A]ny named insured may reject in writing such uninsured motorist coverage completely or select lower limits of such coverage but not less than the minimum coverage limits in § 55-12-107. Any document signed by the named insured or legal representative which initially rejects such coverage or selects lower limits shall be binding upon every insured to whom such policy applies, and shall be conclusively presumed to become a part of the policy or contract when issued or delivered, irrespective of whether physically attached thereto....
T.C.A. § 56 — 7—1201(a)(2) (1994).