Allstate Insurance v. Maglish

586 P.2d 313, 94 Nev. 699, 1978 Nev. LEXIS 658
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 10, 1978
Docket9508
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 586 P.2d 313 (Allstate Insurance v. Maglish) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allstate Insurance v. Maglish, 586 P.2d 313, 94 Nev. 699, 1978 Nev. LEXIS 658 (Neb. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

By the Court,

Gunderson, J.:

Allstate Insurance Co. appeals a summary judgment determining that a single insurance policy on two automobiles provided two $15,000 uninsured motorist coverages, totaling $30,000. Appellant claims the policy provided only one uninsured motorist coverage of $15,000. We affirm the judgment.

On May 30, 1975, while riding a motorcycle pursuant to his duties as a police officer, respondent Robert E. Maglish sustained injuries in an accident negligently caused by an uninsured motorist. Subsequently, Maglish obtained a $55,000 default judgment against the motorist. It is uncontested that before the accident, Allstate had sold Maglish a single policy covering two automobiles, and containing uninsured motorist provisions. However, whether the polidy provided two “UM” coverages, which may be “stacked,” is disputed.

*701 Maglish demanded $30,000 from Allstate. Allstate maintained the appropriate figure to be $15,000, and sought declaratory relief to determine the applicable policy limit.

The policy declares protection in amounts of $15,000'for one person and $30,000 for one accident on each vehicle insured. 1 Maglish moved for summary judgment on the theory that since two cars are insured, the coverages may be “stacked” so that the policy limit is $30,000 where one person is injured. A clause appearing in the separate UM provision of the policy purports to limit liability as follows:

The limit of liability stated in the declarations as applicable to “each person” is the limit of Allstate’s liability for all damages . . . suffered by one person as the result of any one accident and, . . . the limit of liability stated in the declarations as applicable to “each accident” is the total limit of Allstate’s liability for all damages . . . sustained by two or more persons as the result of any one accident.

The district court was aware of the split of authority in this country on the issue of stacking UM coverage. After determining that the public policy of this state favors stacking, the court granted summary judgment, awarding Maglish $30,000. In making its determination, the court considered the relevant decisions of this court on the issue of stacking.

In United Services Auto. Ass’n v. Dokter, 86 Nev. 917, 478 P.2d 583 (1970), we held that, “where the insurer issues two automobile policies containing uninsured motorist coverage, the extent of coverage is the combined total amount of such policies, and actual damages sustained by the insured are recoverable to the full extent of the combined limits of both policies.” Id. at 920.

In State Farm Mut. Auto. v. Christensen, 88 Nev. 160, 494 P.2d 552 (1972), the insured owned five vehicles, each insured under a separate policy issued by State Farm. We allowed the insured to recover the combined UM coverages of the five policies. Christensen reaffirmed the Dokter holding that “policies issued by the same company [can] be stacked.” Id. at 163. We explained in Dokter, supra, that in stacking coverages of separate policies, the insured does not receive a windfall “since he paid two separate premiums for the indemnity of two separate policies.” Dokter, supra at 920.

In State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. v. Hinkel, 87 Nev. 478, 488 P.2d 1151 (1971), we examined the effect and intent of our UM statutes. Although stacking was not dealt with in that case, the *702 principles employed in the decision are relevant to the issue now before us. The plaintiff in Hinkel suffered injuries resulting from the negligence of an uninsured motorist. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was an “insured” under the terms of a State Farm Automobile insurance policy owned by plaintiff’s father and providing UM coverage. However, when injured, plaintiff was operating his own vehicle, which was not insured by his father’s policy. By its express terms, the policy excluded coverage for “bodily injury to an insured while occupying a . . . vehicle owned by [an] insured ... if such vehicle is not an insured automobile.” State Farm urged that this exclusionary clause precluded recovery by plaintiff. We determined that “An insurance company may limit [UM] coverage only if the limitation does not contravene public policy.” Id. at 481. Although presented with contrary views of appropriate public policy in other jurisdictions, we chose in Hinkel to construe our UM statutes in favor of recovery by the insured. We held that the exclusionary clause was an effort by the insurance company to restrict the protection to which the insured was statutorily entitled. As such, it was contrary to public policy and void.

In this appeal Allstate claims that Dokter and Christensen are not authority for stacking UM coverage where multiple vehicles are insured in a single policy, and that the liability limiting clause unequivocally restricts UM coverage to $15,000, and is consistent with public policy. We disagree.

Some jurisdictions profess that the analysis used to allow stacking coverages of separate policies is inappropriate when considering the single multi-vehicle policy situation. Morrison Assurance Company, Inc. v. Polak, 230 So.2d 6 (Fla. 1969). In our view, however, the public policy underlying Dokter and Christensen is that the insured is entitled to recover damages to the full extent of personal coverage for which he has paid premiums. 2 This principle applies with equal force where two premiums are paid to provide UM coverage for two vehicles within the same policy.

Although we question whether the liability limiting clause is unequivocal as alleged by Allstate, we need not address that issue since the clause is void if contrary to public policy. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. v. Hinkel, cited above. In Hinkel, an exclusionary clause was voided under this rule because it was not the intent of the legislature “to require [the insurer] to offer protection with one hand and then [allow the insurer to] take a part of it away with the other.” Id. at 481, 482. Similarly, it violates public policy to allow the insurer to collect a *703 premium for certain protection and then take it away by a limiting clause. See Great Central Ins. Co. v. Edge, 298 So.2d 607 (Ala. 1974); Employers Liability Assur. Corp., Ltd. v. Jackson, 270 So.2d 806 (Ala. 1972); Wilkinson v. Firemans Fund Insurance Co., 298 So.2d 915 (La.App. 1974); Cunningham v. Insurance Company of North America, 189 S.E.2d 832 (Va. 1972).

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Bluebook (online)
586 P.2d 313, 94 Nev. 699, 1978 Nev. LEXIS 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allstate-insurance-v-maglish-nev-1978.