Allstate Insurance v. Ashley

795 F. Supp. 809, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11970, 1992 WL 180693
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedJuly 31, 1992
DocketCiv. A. No. J90-0575(B)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 795 F. Supp. 809 (Allstate Insurance v. Ashley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allstate Insurance v. Ashley, 795 F. Supp. 809, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11970, 1992 WL 180693 (S.D. Miss. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BARBOUR, Chief Judge.

This cause is before the Court, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, on the Motion of Defendants Ronald Rainer, Luther Ashley, Nell Ashley, and Jennifer Ashley for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff Allstate Insurance Company has also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on Remaining Legal Issues. The parties have responded to the opposing Motions respectively. The Court, having considered the Motions and Responses, together with memoranda of authorities and attachments thereto, now renders the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

At all times relevant to this controversy, Luther Ashley (“Ashley”) was insured under Allstate Insurance Company (“Allstate”) automobile liability policy number 045034162. Prior to October, 1989, Allstate charged a separate uninsured motorist coverage premium for each automobile it insured under a policy. Accordingly, Ashley was charged a separate uninsured motorists coverage premium of $49.70 for each of the three vehicles Ashley insured under the policy. In October of 1989, however, Allstate instituted a new uninsured motorist coverage and rate structure that had been approved by the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner for renewals of automobile liability policies issued in Mississippi by Allstate. Under the new coverage and rate structure, Allstate charged a lump sum uninsured motorist coverage premium for all Mississippi one-car households and an increased lump sum uninsured motorist coverage premium for all Mississippi multiple-car households, regardless of the number of vehicles insured under any multiple-car policy. Consequently, when Ashley’s Allstate policy was scheduled for renewal in February, 1990, Allstate sent Ashley his policy renewal materials, including Endorsement AU 1865, which provided:

Combining Limits of Two or More Autos Prohibited.
If you have two or more autos insured in your name and one of those autos is involved in an accident, only the coverage limits shown on the declarations page for that auto will apply. When you have two or more autos insured in your name and none of them is involved in the accident, you may choose any single auto shown on the declarations page and the coverage limits applicable to that auto will apply.
The limits available for any other auto covered by this policy will not be added to the coverage for the involved or chosen auto.
[811]*811Limits of Liability.
The Uninsured Motorist Coverage — Bodily Injury limit stated on the declarations page is the maximum amount payable for this coverage by this policy for any one accident. This means the insuring of more than one auto for other coverages afforded by this policy will not increase our limit of liability beyond the amount shown on the declarations.
1. Regardless of the number of insured autos under this coverage, the specific amount shown on the declarations is the maximum we will pay under this policy for:
(a) “each person” for damages arising out of bodily injury to one person in any one motor vehicle accident, including damages sustained by anyone else as a result of that bodily injury.
(b) “each accident” for damages arising out of bodily injury to two or more persons in any one motor vehicle acci-. dent. This limit is subject to the limit for “each person.”

Along with his policy renewal materials, Allstate sent Ashley an explanatory marketing insert, Form X 3583, describing the coverage modification set forth in Endorsement AU 1865. The Form X 3583 marketing insert explained the coverage modifications as follows:

YOUR UNINSURED MOTORISTS COVERAGE HAS CHANGED
If you currently carry Uninsured Motorists Insurance (Coverage SS) on your auto insurance policy, the following changes directly affect your coverage. Please read this insert carefully, so that you will fully understand the changes to the policy.
* Previously Coverage SS-Bodily Injury applied separately to each of your insured vehicles, and a separate premium was charged for each vehicle. Now, when you purchase Coverage SS-Bodily Injury, it will cover all motor vehicles insured under this policy, and only one premium will be charged. The Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limit of liability that you choose is the most you will be able to recover in any one covered accident when an uninsured motorist is legally liable for bodily injury damages sustained by you or others insured under your policy.
If your policy currently has coverage SS on more than one vehicle, it has been renewed at the highest limit that previously applied to any one of your vehicles. Please see the enclosed Declarations page for your Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limit.
If your Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limit is lower than your Bodily Injury Liability Insurance (Coverage AA) limit, you have the option of increasing your Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limit to equal your Coverage. AA limit. Some of the available ■ Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limits and their corresponding premiums are shown on your declarations page. If you would like to change your limits, simply complete and sign the attached selection form and return it with your payment.
* Previously under your Coverage SS-Bodily Injury, you were allowed to add or “stack” the limits if. each vehicle covered under this policy in order to pay for damages sustained in an accident. For example, if you chose the $10,000 Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limit on two vehicles . covered under this policy, the maximum you could recover was $20,000 ($10,000 and $10,-000).
This “stacking” feature is no longer a part of your policy. Because you no longer have this feature, your potential recovery for this coverage is now lower if you have more than one vehicle on your policy. As a result, you may want to increase your Coverage SS-Bodily Injury limits (if they are less than your Coverage AA limits) by sending in the attached selection form.

Pursuant to the renewal of Ashley’s automobile insurance policy in February, 1990, Allstate provided Ashley with uninsured motorist coverage of $50,000 each person injured in any one accident and $100,000 each accident if two or more persons were injured in any one accident. [812]*812Four vehicles were listed on the Declarations page as being covered under the policy, and Ashley paid a lump sum uninsured motorist premium of $91.90.

On or about May 30, 1990, Ronald Rain-er, Ernest Couch, Jennifer Ashley, and Nell Ashley were injured in a two car accident in Harrison County, Mississippi, while riding in a vehicle that Ashley had insured under the Allstate policy. Neither the other driver involved in the accident nor her vehicle had any automobile liability insurance coverage.

On November 20, 1990, Allstate filed the instant suit against Ashley and all the passengers in the Ashley vehicle at the time of the accident seeking a declaration of its duties and obligations under the automobile insurance policy it had issued to Ashley.

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Related

Box v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
692 So. 2d 54 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1997)
Thomas v. Allstate Insurance
969 F. Supp. 1352 (S.D. Mississippi, 1996)
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Ashley
Fifth Circuit, 1993

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Bluebook (online)
795 F. Supp. 809, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11970, 1992 WL 180693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allstate-insurance-v-ashley-mssd-1992.