44 Conn. Supp. 59 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1994
Subsequent to the accident, the plaintiffs recovered $20,000 from the liability carrier which provided insurance to Benedetto as owner of the offending vehicle. The sum received was the maximum allowable under terms of the policy. Additionally, the plaintiffs received by way of settlement $100,000 from the CT Page 6734 co-defendant Allstate Insurance Company under the bodily injury liability provisions of a policy which insured Mr. Cote as the vehicle's operator. That sum, too, was the maximum allowable pursuant to provisions of the policy.
In the instant action the plaintiffs seek added benefits which they claim are due under the uninsured/underinsured motorist provisions of their own auto policy with the defendant Aetna Casualty and Insurance Company, as well as such benefits under the same or similar provisions of the Cote auto policy with Allstate. Each of the policies has uninsured/underinsured limits of coverage in the total amount of $200,000. Of that amount the defendant-Aetna, has under its policy paid to the plaintiffs $80,000 of underinsured benefits.1
At trial the court received (Pl. Exh. 1) a stipulation as to the underlying facts which was executed by counsel for each of the parties. In addition to those facts contained in the court's recital (above), the parties agreed, inter alia, as follows:
(1) fair, just, and reasonable damages to the plaintiffs as a result of all consequences flowing from the death of the decedent are "at least $400,000;"
(2) at the time of the accident Joel Cote operated the pick-up truck with the permission of the owner, but the truck was not available or furnished for his regular use or the use of his parents with whom he resided and to whom the Allstate policy was issued;
(3) if it is the court's finding that the underinsured coverage of the Allstate policy is available and applicable to the plaintiffs' claim, then such coverage would be primary and in the amount of $200,000, less off-sets and credits as determined by the court; and such coverage under the Aetna policy would be excess or secondary thereto; and
(4) if it is the court's finding that the underinsured coverage of the Allstate policy is not available or applicable to the CT Page 6735 plaintiffs' claim, then neither defendant owes any further policy benefits to the plaintiffs, and judgment in that event would enter in favor of both defendants.
The parties at trial also submitted what has been designated as Joint Exhibit 1. It is a document, executed by counsel in behalf of the parties, which is entitled, "Issues Submitted." Such issues are set forth in interrogatory form, and it is agreed that by answering the three questions presented, the court will have decided the disputed issues of the case. The issue-questions are essentially as follows:
(1) whether the underinsured motorist coverage of the Allstate policy is available and applicable to the plaintiffs' claim;
(2) if so, what off-sets and credits which relate to the plaintiffs' claim should be applied to the limits of such coverage; and
(3) whether Aetna, by the terms of its policy of insurance issued to the plaintiffs; i.e., the $200,000 of underinsured motorist coverage thereunder; is entitled to a credit of all or part of the $120,000 of bodily injury benefits paid to the plaintiffs on behalf of the tortfeasors.
The critical language of the policy on which Allstate relies is as follows:
"We will pay those damages which an insured person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured auto because of bodily injury sustained by CT Page 6736 an insured person." (underlining added).
The first issue to be addressed, then, is whether the plaintiffs' decedent was an insured person, and, if she was, whether the vehicle she occupied was "an uninsured auto."
Clearly, the language of Allstate's uninsured motorist endorsement is narrower than that found under the bodily injury liability provision. Joel Cote who drove the offending motor vehicle, although a resident relative, was not a resident spouse, and it is on this basis that Allstate disclaims uninsured motorist coverage. The plaintiffs, on the contrary, stress that it is not the policy definitions which control, but, rather, applicable insurance regulations, which regulations carry the force of statutory law. Fidelity Casualty Co. v. Darrow,
"(a) Coverage. The insurer shall undertake to pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall be legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury sustained by the insured caused by an accident involving the uninsured motor vehicle. This coverage shall insure the occupants of every motor vehicle to which the bodily injury coverage applies." (underlining added).
Obviously, Allstate does not dispute that the bodily injury CT Page 6737 liability policy it provided to the Cotes insured the Benedetto truck and the decedent as one of the occupants. If there were such a question, surely the Company would not have paid $100,000 bodily injury benefits to the plaintiffs. Bodily injury coverage being applicable, it is this court's finding that the second sentence of the regulation (Sec.
Sec.
In addition to public policy considerations, "an insurer may not, by contract, reduce its liability for such uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage except as Sec.
Even if the policy definition of uninsured were construed on its face to preclude coverage for the Benedetto vehicle, any such definition, as hereinbefore stated, cannot be permitted to take precedence over insurance regulations which require such coverage. "An insurer cannot limit otherwise mandated underinsured motorist coverage by labeling a forbidden exclusion as a definition." Middlesex Ins. Co. v. Quinn, supra 268. "[U]ninsured motorist coverage is person oriented and therefore must be provided to insureds while they are occupants of insured vehicles or uninsured vehicles." Smith v. Nationwide Mutual Ins.Co., supra 738-39.
"Uninsured auto", as defined in the defendant-Allstate's policy of insurance, does not preclude coverage of the Benedetto vehicle.
This court rejects the argument, which is advanced without authoritative support. Sec.
In this state an insurance policy, like any other contract, must be given a reasonable interpretation. Aetna Casualty Surety Co. v. CNA Ins. Co.,
Allstate's policy defines its limits of coverage both as to each person and each accident. It is agreed that the limit of uninsured/underinsured coverage is as to the plaintiffs $200,000. Notwithstanding the bodily injury limitation ($100,000) placed on the amount which the plaintiffs can receive in behalf of their decedent individually, the defendant seeks credit not only for payments made to the plaintiffs, but also for payments not available to the plaintiffs which were made to others. In short, Allstate's claim is that it should be given a combined credit.
This claim flies in the face of established Supreme Court pronouncements:
"Our uninsured motorist statute, Sec.
38a-336 , provides coverage for persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured vehicles . . . . (emphasis added). The coverage attaches to the insured person, not the insured vehicle, Harvey v. Travelers Indemnity Co.,188 Conn. 245 ,248 (1982);see also Covenant Ins. Co. v. Coon,
220 Conn. 30 ,34 (1991):[I]t is consistent with our earlier interpretation of Sec.
38a-336 to conclude that the total of the per person limit is that the amount of liability insurance available to the claimant. . . ." CT Page 6741Cf. Allstate v. Lenda, supra, 452-53: "The policy language limiting coverage states that `all amounts paid' will be used to reduce the limits of the coverage, . . . [not merely] sums paid only to the claimant." (emphasis added).
In short, unless the policy language is unambiguously to the contrary (e.g., Lenda), the relevant consideration, then, is the total of the liability coverage available to the individual claimant, and not those amounts paid to other individuals which were unavailable to the claimant. The amount of the credit due under Sec.
This court rejects Aetna's claim that, in effect, a double credit should be applied. The chief concern in reconciling disputes as to amounts and priority of payments between insurers is the avoidance of compromising coverage for the insured. AetnaCasualty Surety Co. v. CNA Ins. Co., supra 783. If policy provisions allowing deductions of uninsured motorist limits compromises the insured's coverage, then such provisions are not enforceable. Dunlop, Admx. v. Government Employees Ins. Co., supra 350. It seems quite illogical in light of this underlying philosophy to allow to the underinsurance carriers a credit of $240,000 for bodily injury liability payments when only $120,000 was actually paid to the plaintiffs.
Furthermore, Sec.
That Allstate should receive a credit of $100,000 which it paid under the terms of its bodily injury liability coverage seems hardly subject to question, and there seems no sound reason, as well, why it should not as primary carrier, receive the additional $20,000 credit for liability benefits otherwise received by the plaintiffs. By fashioning this result the defendant Aetna is treated as an excess carrier, which is exactly what it bargained for. Its liability attaches only to the extent of the excess loss above the primary insurer's uninsured coverage. Some other pro rata division of deductions would be inconsistent with its role.
The Supreme Court has held that there is no prohibition against stacking coverages pursuant to Sec.
Aetna's added argument, that to allow the plaintiffs to recover under its policy would violate a long-standing rule that prohibits an insured's recovery of double damages by virtue of overlapping insurance coverage, is inapposite. Pecker v. AetnaCasualty Surety Co., supra 452. The instant case is not one of double payment, but rather one of implementation of public policy which underlies the uninsured motorist statute; viz., that "every insured is entitled to recover for the damages he or she would have been able to recover if the [underinsured] motorist had maintained a policy of [adequate] liability insurance."Rydingsword v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co.,
(1) the underinsured motorist coverage of the Allstate policy is available and applicable to the plaintiffs' claim;
(2) the defendant Allstate should receive a credit of $120,000 against the $200,000 limits of its uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage; and
(3) the defendant Aetna is not entitled to a credit of all or any part of the $120,000 paid to the plaintiffs.
CT Page 6744
In accordance with this opinion judgment may enter in favor of the plaintiffs to recover of the defendant Aetna Casualty Surety Company $120,000 damages and of the defendant Allstate Insurance Company $80,000 damages.4
GAFFNEY, J.
Judgment entered in accordance with Foregoing Memorandum of Decision.
Michael Kokoszka, Chief Clerk