400 Mass. 1003 | Mass. | 1987
This is the second of two cases we decide today concerning the application
The parties have stipulated to the following facts. In 1981, the Peerless Insurance Company (Peerless) issued to the plaintiff the Massachusetts motor vehicle liability insurance policy at issue covering a 1973 Mercedes Benz automobile and a 1980 Volvo automobile owned by him. The policy provided for underinsured coverage limits of $100,000 per person on the Mercedes and $10,000 per person on the Volvo.
The sole issue presented involves uninsured motorist coverage offered solely at the option of the insurer. For the reasons expressed in Johnson v. Hanover Ins. Co., supra at 265-266, we agree with Peerless’s argument that optional coverage above those amounts, which the insurer was not required to offer, is outside the scope of G. L. c. 175, §§ 113L and 113C, and therefore may be restricted under the terms of the plaintiff’s policy. We remand this case to the Superior Court for entry of a judgment declaring that the plaintiff may not recover additional underinsured motorist benefits offered solely at the option of the insurer under the Massachusetts automobile policy issued by the defendant.
So ordered.
The coverage selections page of the policy indicates that the uninsured motorist claims coverage (Part 3) premium also included coverage for bodily injury caused by an underinsured auto (Part 7).
The policy defines an “auto” as a “land motor vehicle or trailer.”
The policy covering the plaintiffs motorcycle is not at issue in this appeal.