Allstate Insurance v. Harrison

307 F. Supp. 743, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8709
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedDecember 31, 1969
DocketNo. 69 C-25
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 307 F. Supp. 743 (Allstate Insurance v. Harrison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allstate Insurance v. Harrison, 307 F. Supp. 743, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8709 (W.D. Ark. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

OREN HARRIS, Chief Judge.

In this diversity action the plaintiff, Allstate Insurance Company, seeks a declaration of rights under an insurance policy issued to the defendant, Jewell Harrison, in June of 1967, of liability insurance on a 1962 Chevrolet automobile, which policy was in full force and effect on May 30, 1968. In its Crusader Policy No. 45-002-504 issued to the insured Jewell Harrison, there is included an “uninsured motorist” provision under Coverage S of Section II with the limitation of $10,000 to each person and $20,000 for each occurrence as a result of bodily injury caused by accident and payable under the conditions as contained in the policy.

The declaratory judgment for an interpretation of the insurance contract issued by the plainitff to the defendant, Jewell Harrison, arises as a result of an accident which occurred on May 30, 1968, at which time the defendants, Jewell Harrison and Lou Ann Ward, daughter of the insured and a resident of the same household, were passengers in a 1967 Mustang Ford automobile (a vehicle not owned by the defendant, Jewell Harrison) being driven by Tommy C. Reynolds, son-in-law of Jewell Harrison, in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Ford automobile was owned and being driven by Tommy C. Reynolds in a northernly direction where he had stopped for a red light at Crockett Street. Robert Walker, an uninsured motorist, was driving a 1959 Plymouth automobile also in a northernly direction at the same time and place, struck the 1967 Ford Mustang automobile in the rear, while it was in a standing position at the red light, injurying both Jewell Harrison and Lou Ann Ward.

In October, 1967, Standard Mutual Insurance Company issued its liability insurance policy No. 321328 to Tommy C. Reynolds insuring him and occupants of his insured automobile, which also included in Part IV Protection Against Uninsured- Motorist similar to that afforded under Coverage S of the policy issued by Allstate to Jewell Harrison on her 1962 Chevrolet automobile. Both policies provided coverage for the insured of the respective automobiles relatives and members of the household and other persons while occupying the insured vehicle.

The policy at issue issued by Allstate to Jewell Harrison contains certain exclusions under the uninsured motorist coverage which includes :

“This Section of the Policy does not apply:
“1. to bodily injury of an insured sustained while in or upon, entering into or alighting from, any automobile, other than an owned automobile, if the owner has insur- * anee similar to that afforded by this Section and such insurance is available to the insured

The policy issued by the Standard Mutual Insurance Company on the Ford Mustang to Tommy C. Reynolds, which car was involved in the accident with the uninsured motorist Robert Walker causing injuries to the defendants while passengers of the Reynold’s car, contains a provision for uninsured motorist protection as follows:

“Part IV. — Protection Against Uninsured Motorist
“Exclusions:
“Other Insurance:
“With respect to bodily injury to an insured while occupying an automobile [745]*745not owned by the named insured, the insurance under Part IY. shall apply only as excess insurance over any other similar insurance available to such insured and applicable to such automobile as primary insurance, and this insurance shall then apply only in the amount by which the limit of liability for this coverage exceeds the applicable limits of liability of such other insurance.
“Except as provided in the foregoing paragraph, if the insured has other similar insurance available to him and applicable to the accident, the damages shall be deemed not to exceed the higher of the applicable limits of liability of this insurance and such other insurance and the company shall not be liable for a greater proportion of any loss to which this coverage applies and the limit of liability hereunder bears to the sum of the applicable limits of liability of this insurance and such other insurance.”

The facts as stated herein are not in dispute and are included in affidavits submitted by the attorneys for the respective parties in this proceeding.

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint of the plaintiff for a declaratory judgment on the following bases:

1. That Standard Mutual Insurance Company of Springfield, Illinois, is an indispensable party to this action under Rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and is not within the jurisdiction of this court and cannot be made a party by the defendants since it is a corporation organized and doing business within the State of Illiniois, but not authorized to and doing business in the State of Arkansas;

2. That the court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of plaintiff’s complaint; and

3. That the plaintiff’s complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

The Court will first consider and dispose of the question of jurisdiction. The contention of the plaintiff that the court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of the plaintiff’s complaint is untenable.

It is admitted that the plaintiff, Allstate Insurance Company, is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Illinois, with its principal place of business and office in the City of Skokie, Illinios, and authorized to do business in Arkansas; the defendants prior to and at the time of the incident complained of were citizens of the State of Arkansas, and residents of the City of Hot Springs, County of Garland; the maximum amount in controversy exceeds $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs.

In a complaint filed by the defendants in another proceeding in this court, HS 69-C-7, against the plaintiff in this case, Jewell Harrison and Lou Ann Ward each sought the sum of $10,000, together with 12% statutory penalty and reasonable attorney’s fee. The claim in that proceeding was based on the policy at issue here resulting from the accident, which occurred in Shreveport as described herein. Jurisdiction is, therefore, established. Wortman v. Safeco Insurance Company, 227 F.Supp. 468; State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Pennington, D.C., 215 F.Supp. 784.

Parenthetically, the other proceeding, HS 69-C-7, in this court, which was a removal case from the Garland County Circuit Court, brought by Jewell Harrison and Lou Ann Ward against Allstate Insurance Company was dismissed on motion of the plaintiffs, Jewell Harrison and Lou Ann Ward, therein. The voluntary dismissal was based on a cause of action pending before the American Arbitration Association in the State of Illinois, together with another cause of action against the Standard Mutual Insurance Company arising out of the automobile collision on May 30, 1968, in Shreveport, Louisiana, at which time Jewell Harrison and Lou Ann Ward were injured. It was the contention of the defendants, Jewell Harrison and Lou [746]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
307 F. Supp. 743, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8709, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allstate-insurance-v-harrison-arwd-1969.