Bergmann v. Hutton

101 P.3d 353, 337 Or. 596, 2004 Ore. LEXIS 794
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 2, 2004
DocketCC 00-3304-L-2; CA A115380; SC S50395
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 101 P.3d 353 (Bergmann v. Hutton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bergmann v. Hutton, 101 P.3d 353, 337 Or. 596, 2004 Ore. LEXIS 794 (Or. 2004).

Opinions

[599]*599GILLETTE, J.

In this automobile insurance case, the issue is whether an insurer is entitled to offset the amount that an injured insured received in workers’ compensation benefits against the amount that the insurer otherwise would have been obligated to pay to the insured under the insured’s underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage in a policy issued by the defendant insurer. The issue arose when plaintiff1 submitted a claim under the UIM coverage. Defendant responded that the policy entitled it to offset the workers’ compensation payments that plaintiff had received and that, in the offset, defendant owed plaintiff nothing. Plaintiff then brought this contract action against defendant. Defendant moved for summary judgment respecting the offset for workers’ compensation benefits. The trial court granted defendant’s motion, and, on appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling without opinion. Bergmann v. Hutton, 186 Or App 566, 65 P3d 1132 (2003). We allowed review and, for the reasons that follow, now reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and the judgment of the trial court.

Because we are reviewing a grant of summary judgment, we view the facts from the summary judgment record, and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from them, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, in this case plaintiff insured. Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. v. Coopers & Lybrand, LLP, 336 Or 329, 332, 83 P3d 322 (2004).

In October 1998, plaintiff was seriously injured in an automobile collision caused by the failure of another driver, defendant Hutton, to stop at a red light. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was 51 years old. She worked at a bank and earned a salary of more than $3,000 per month. After the accident, plaintiff s condition was such that she was unable to return to work and had difficulty participating in normal fife activities.

At the time of the accident, defendant Farmers Insurance Company (Farmers) insured plaintiff under an [600]*600automobile insurance policy. That policy provided for uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage with a liability limit of $100,000. Farmers also insured Hutton, who admitted responsibility for the accident, under a policy that had a liability limit of $25,000.

Plaintiffs damages resulting from the accident totaled more than $650,000.2 Farmers tendered the policy limit of $25,000 under Hutton’s policy, and plaintiff received a total of $107,652 in workers’ compensation benefits. Because those amounts did not fully compensate plaintiff for her losses, plaintiff made a claim for damages under the UIM provisions of her automobile insurance policy.3

Farmers denied that claim. Farmers contended that the policy and applicable law entitled it to deduct from the amount that it otherwise would owe to plaintiff under the UIM provision of its policy both the amount tendered on behalf of the negligent driver and the amount that plaintiff received in workers’ compensation benefits. Because those amounts collectively exceeded the policy limit of $100,000, Farmers asserted that plaintiffs UIM benefits were exhausted and Farmers owed her nothing.

Plaintiff filed the present action against Farmers for breach of contract.4 Farmers answered, denying any liability, and moved for summary judgment. Farmers argued, among other things, that the Court of Appeals had held, in California Casualty Indemnity Exchange v. Maritzen, 123 Or App 166, 860 P2d 259 (1993), and in Pitchford v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 147 Or App 9, 934 P2d 616 (1997), that UIM policy provisions similar to the one at issue here permitted the insurer to offset the amount that the insured received in workers’ compensation benefits against the insured’s UIM policy limits. According to Farmers, those Court of Appeals holdings were dispositive and mandated a ruling in its favor [601]*601in the instant case. The trial court agreed and granted Farmers’ summary judgment motion. As noted, the Court of Appeals affirmed without opinion. We allowed plaintiff’s petition for review.

In this court, plaintiff contends that, under the governing statute, ORS 742.504(7)(c)(B), the workers’ compensation benefits that she received are properly deducted from the total amount that she legally would be entitled to recover in damages from the owner of the underinsured vehicle, i.e., from $650,000, rather than from the (lower) liability limit under her UIM policy ($100,000), and that the Court of Appeals’ earlier decisions to the contrary were erroneous.

We begin by examining the statutes pertinent to UIM coverage.5 ORS 742.502 contains a general UM and UIM coverage mandate. That statute requires, first, that all motor vehicle liability policies in Oregon provide UM coverage. ORS 742.502(1). Moreover, those policies generally must provide the same limits for UM coverage as for bodily injury liability coverage.6 ORS 742.502(2)(a). Second, ORS 742.502(2)(a) requires the inclusion of UIM coverage in any policy providing for UM coverage in excess of the financial responsibility limits. That statute defines UIM coverage as “coverage for damages or death caused by accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle that is insured for an amount that is less than the insured’s uninsured motorist coverage.” Id. (emphasis added). That subsection also provides a general formula for calculating UIM benefits. Under that subsection, “[underinsurance benefits shall be equal to uninsured motorist coverage benefits less the amount recovered from other automobile liability insurance policies.” Id.

[602]*602In addition, ORS 742.502(4) provides, among other things, that UIM coverage is subject to ORS 742.504, which sets out required provisions for UM coverage. The dispute in this case centers around ORS 742.504(7), which provides as follows:

“(a) The limit of liability stated in the declarations as applicable to ‘each person’ is the limit of the insurer’s liability for all damages because of bodily injury sustained by one person as the result of any one accident and, subject to the above provision respecting each person, the limit of liability stated in the declarations as applicable to ‘each accident’ is the total limit of the company’s liability for all damages because of bodily injury sustained by two or more persons as the result of any one accident.
* * * *
“(c) Any amount payable under the terms of this coverage

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 P.3d 353, 337 Or. 596, 2004 Ore. LEXIS 794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bergmann-v-hutton-or-2004.