SHELTER MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE, v. LARRY FREUDENBURG, APPELLANT.
No. S-19-265
Nebraska Supreme Court
February 7, 2020
304 Neb. 1015
Freudenberg, J.
___ N.W.2d ___
Summary Judgment: Appeal and Error. An appellate court affirms a lower court‘s grant of summary judgment if the pleadings and admitted evidence show that there is no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from the facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. - ____: ____. In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was granted, and gives that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences deducible from the evidence.
- Statutes: Appeal and Error. To the extent an appeal calls for statutory interpretation or presents questions of law, an appellate court must reach an independent conclusion irrespective of the determination made by the court below.
- ____: ____. An appellate court will not resort to interpretation to ascertain the meaning of statutory words that are plain, direct, and unambiguous.
- Statutes: Legislature: Intent. A collection of statutes pertaining to a single subject matter are in pari materia and should be conjunctively considered and construed to determine the intent of the Legislature, so that different provisions are consistent, harmonious, and sensible.
- Statutes. It is impermissible to follow a literal reading that engenders absurd consequences where there is an alternative interpretation that reasonably effects a statute‘s purpose.
- ____. A court must attempt to give effect to all parts of a statute, and if it can be avoided, no word, clause, or sentence will be rejected as superfluous or meaningless.
George H. Moyer and Jack W. Lafleur, of Moyer & Moyer, for appellant.
Theresa D. Koller and Nathan D. Clark, of Cline, Williams, Wright, Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P., for appellee.
HEAVICAN, C.J., MILLER-LERMAN, CASSEL, STACY, FUNKE, and FREUDENBERG, JJ.
FREUDENBERG, J.
NATURE OF CASE
The primary issue in this case is whether
BACKGROUND
The insured, Larry Freudenburg, appeals from an order granting summary judgment in favor of Shelter in its action for declaratory judgment regarding the application of
The facts are undisputed. On October 20, 2016, Freudenburg was traveling as a passenger in a car covered by a policy Freudenburg and his wife had purchased from Shelter. Freudenburg made a claim for his injuries under the Shelter policy because the injuries were not covered by any other policies. After the accident, Freudenburg filed a claim for reimbursement of expenses based on his injuries totaling over $100,000. Rather than paying the policy limit for bodily injury in the amount of $100,000, Shelter paid $25,000, which is the minimum level of automobile liability coverage that drivers in Nebraska are required by law to carry.
Shelter refused to pay Freudenburg‘s request for an additional $75,000 based on a partial household exclusion clause in Freudenburg‘s policy. A section titled “Partial Exclusions From Coverage A and Coverage B” begins with the following:
Coverage A [for bodily injury] and Coverage B [for property damage] do not cover any of the types of damages listed below unless no other policy of liability insurance provides coverage for those damages in the amount required by the applicable financial responsibility law. In that event, the minimum dollar amount of coverage required by the applicable financial responsibility law will be provided by this policy. No additional benefits that are not required by that law will be provided.
Subsection 13 of this provision allows for a reduction in bodily injury coverage for “[d]amages owed to any insured, relative, or resident of an insured‘s household.” Shelter asserted that the $100,000 policy for bodily injury was reduced to the Nebraska minimum of $25,000 pursuant to the partial household exclusion clause.
Shelter received a letter from Ramage on behalf of the Nebraska Department of Insurance which asked Shelter why it
Automobile liability policy means liability insurance written by an insurance carrier duly authorized to do business in this state protecting other persons from damages for liability on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of the insurance arising out of the ownership of a motor vehicle (1) in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, (2) subject to the limit for one person, in the amount of fifty thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and (3) in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of injury to or destruction of property of other persons in any one accident. An automobile liability policy shall not exclude, limit, reduce, or otherwise alter liability coverage under the policy solely because the injured person making a claim is the named insured in the policy or residing in the household with the named insured.
In June 2017, Shelter brought a declaratory action seeking to declare that partial household exclusions are permissible under Nebraska law. The district court determined that
ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
Freudenburg assigns that summary judgment was improper because the trial court erred in (1) interpreting the last sentence of
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[1] An appellate court affirms a lower court‘s grant of summary judgment if the pleadings and admitted evidence show that there is no genuine issue as to any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from the facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.1
[2] In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was granted, and gives that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences deducible from the evidence.2
[3] To the extent an appeal calls for statutory interpretation or presents questions of law, an appellate court must reach an independent conclusion irrespective of the determination made by the court below.3
ANALYSIS
Although Freudenburg has assigned several errors on appeal, the errors are rooted in a single question of how to interpret
[4-7] An appellate court will not resort to interpretation to ascertain the meaning of statutory words that are plain, direct, and unambiguous.4 A collection of statutes pertaining to a single subject matter are in pari materia and should be conjunctively considered and construed to determine the intent of the Legislature, so that different provisions are consistent, harmonious, and sensible.5 It is impermissible to follow a literal reading that engenders absurd consequences where there is an alternative interpretation that reasonably effects a statute‘s purpose.6 A court must attempt to give effect to all parts of a statute, and if it can be avoided, no word, clause, or sentence will be rejected as superfluous or meaningless.7
The Motor Vehicle Registration Act8 generally provides the rules and regulations for acquiring and maintaining registration of vehicles that are operating on Nebraska roadways. The first sentence of
Automobile liability policy means liability insurance written by an insurance carrier duly authorized to do
business in this state protecting other persons from damages for liability on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of the insurance arising out of the ownership of a motor vehicle (1) in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, (2) subject to the limit for one person, in the amount of fifty thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and (3) in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of injury to or destruction of property of other persons in any one accident.
The coverage so described is commonly referred to as “25/50/25 coverage.” Other statutes of the Motor Vehicle Registration Act then set forth that a driver must show proof of financial responsibility9 or a current “automobile liability policy”10 in order to register a vehicle and must have a current “automobile liability policy”11 anytime the vehicle is operated in Nebraska.
The second, and last, sentence of
The two sentences of
Shelter‘s proposed definition of “automobile liability policy,” i.e., “25/50/25 . . . liability insurance”12 (nothing more and nothing less), engenders absurd consequences when applied to the second sentence of
Furthermore, such a reading would lead to the absurd result that the Motor Vehicle Registration Act does not regulate
For example, reading the definition of “automobile liability policy” to include policies that exceed the state minimums is in harmony with the language of
On the back of the certificate, the certificate of registration shall include a statement in boldface print that an automobile liability policy or proof of financial responsibility is required in Nebraska. By paying the required registration fees, every person whose name appears on the registration of the motor vehicle or trailer certifies that a current and effective automobile liability policy or proof of financial responsibility will be maintained for the motor vehicle or trailer at the time of registration and while the motor vehicle or trailer is operated on a highway of this state and that he or she will also provide a current and effective automobile liability policy, evidence of insurance, or proof of financial responsibility for the motor vehicle or trailer upon demand.
Under Shelter‘s interpretation of “automobile liability policy,” anyone carrying proof of a policy in amounts that are not exactly 25/50/25 is not carrying proof of an effective automobile liability policy.
Thus, “automobile liability policy” must mean a policy with coverage in at least the 25/50/25 amount and not a policy with overall limits of “only” or “exactly” the minimum 25/50/25 coverage amount. Understanding “automobile liability policy” to mean coverage in the amount of at least 25/50/25 is in
Perhaps realizing that it would be nonsensical to read the household exclusion prohibition as applying to only 25/50/25 policies, Shelter does not acknowledge the logical consequences of its plain language argument that “automobile liability policy” means a policy providing “only” or “exactly” 25/50/25 coverage. Shelter instead asserts that a consistent application of its understanding of “automobile liability policy” results merely in prohibiting exclusions for a claimant insured or household member, in policies with underlying maximum coverage in any amount, which result in lowering coverage for such claimants below the 25/50/25 minimum required of drivers under Nebraska law. By conceding the applicability of the household exclusion prohibition to policies providing coverage above the 25/50/25 minimum, such a proposed reading of the statute actually utilizes Freudenburg‘s understanding of “automobile liability policy” as a policy providing coverage in at least the 25/50/25 amount, not Shelter‘s understanding of “automobile liability policy” as a policy with coverage in only the 25/50/25 amount.
What Shelter‘s argument really is about is the term “liability coverage.” In essence, Shelter‘s reading proposes the insertion of the modifier “the minimum 25/50/25” into the phrase “liability coverage” in the last sentence of
As such, the term “liability coverage” refers more broadly to the various types of liability coverage afforded in an automobile liability policy. From its plain meaning, it follows that where, as we have already determined, “automobile liability policy” includes all policies with coverage of at least 25/50/25, the second sentence of
We hold that
Because the plain language of
The intent of the 2013 amendment was to prohibit all household exclusions, both total and partial.18 The bill‘s sponsor, Senator Burke Harr, explained it this way:
For example, a person might have a policy providing $500,000 in coverage, which we discussed earlier, but the insurer includes a provision that says if the insured person . . . the injured person . . . is related to or residing with the named insured, the coverage is only $25,000. This thwarts the intent of the Legislature. I believe (LB)316 maintains the intent of the Legislature in repealing the guest statute and prohibiting household exclusions.19
Harr provided the same explanation to the entire Legislature during the floor debates.20 The Legislature passed the law on a vote of 44 to 0.21
CONCLUSION
We conclude that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Shelter on its declaratory judgment action, and therefore, we must reverse that decision and remand this matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court
REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.
PAPIK, J., not participating.
STACY, J., concurring.
I agree with the majority‘s resolution of this case, which presents a very narrow question of statutory construction. We are asked to determine whether a 2013 amendment to
In a series of opinions beginning with Allstate Ins. Co. v. Farmers Mut. Ins. Co., 233 Neb. 248, 444 N.W.2d 676 (1989),1 this court held that household exclusions in automobile liability insurance policies were valid and enforceable under Nebraska law and not contrary to public policy.2 In these cases, we reasoned generally that household exclusions, when contained in an automobile liability policy not being used as proof of future financial responsibility, did not violate public policy because the statutes prescribing the general requirements for automobile liability
In 1995, the Legislature changed that by adding the following language to
In 2005, the Legislature recodified the Motor Vehicle Registration Act and, as relevant here, repealed
Shelter argues that its partial household exclusion does not run afoul of the current language in
Section 60-310 uses language that is plain and unambiguous to prohibit automobile liability policies from excluding, limiting, reducing, or otherwise altering liability coverage solely because the claimant is the named insured or residing in the named insured‘s household. This statutory language, both on its face and in light of its historical evolution, leaves no room for a successful argument that by amending
It is the function of the Legislature through the enactment of statutes to declare what is the law and public policy of this state.8 While there may be sound public policy reasons to limit insurance coverage based on whether one resides in the
