Columbia Mutual Insurance Co. v. Morris

887 S.W.2d 675, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1572, 1994 WL 533182
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 3, 1994
DocketNo. 19268
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 887 S.W.2d 675 (Columbia Mutual Insurance Co. v. Morris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Columbia Mutual Insurance Co. v. Morris, 887 S.W.2d 675, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1572, 1994 WL 533182 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

SHRUM, Chief Judge.

Columbia Mutual brought this declaratory judgment action against its insured, John W. Morris; Sheryl Marie Martin, who was injured when the vehicle she was driving collided with an automobile operated by the insured; and Danny Martin, Sheryl’s husband.

The amount of bodily injury liability coverage under the policy issued to Morris was $25,000 for each person and $50,000 for each accident. Columbia Mutual offered $25,000 to settle both Sheryl’s bodily injury claim and Danny’s derivative damage claim for loss of consortium against Morris arising out of the accident. Sheryl and Danny refused that offer, contending the applicable policy provision is ambiguous and, therefore, Columbia Mutual should pay $50,000 under the policy.

The policy provision at issue is this:

[676]*676“PART A — LIABILITY COVERAGE
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“LIMIT OF LIABILITY
A. The limit of liability shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations for each person for Bodily Injury Liability is our maximum limit of liability for all damages, including damages for care, loss of services or death, arising out of ‘bodily injury’ sustained by any one person in any one auto accident. Subject to this limit for each person, the limit of liability shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations for each accident for Bodily Injury Liability is our maximum limit of liability for all damages for ‘bodily injury1 resulting from any one auto accident....”

The trial court declared that Columbia Mutual’s policy was ambiguous. Specifically, it found:

“The ‘limit of liability’ clause is ambiguous and reasonably open to differing constructions when considering whether the seperate [sic] claims of the Martins are both included in the ‘each person’ limit of the policy.... Further, the grammatical arrangement of the sentence by which plaintiff attempts to limit its liability is ambiguous in that the word ‘sustained’ may modify ‘damages’ or ‘bodily injury.’ This provision is ambiguous as noted in Cano v. Travelers Insurance Company, 656 S.W.2d 266 (Mo. banc 1988), and Lair v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., 789 S.W.2d 30, 34 (Mo. banc 1990).”

Construing the policy language against Columbia Mutual and in favor of coverage, the trial court declared “there is coverage under [Columbia Mutual’s] policy, and defendants may recover, up to a limit of $50,000 for the claims of defendants Sheryl Marie Martin and Danny Martin....” It is from that judgment that Columbia Mutual appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

If there is an ambiguity in an insurance policy it must be resolved against the insurer. Cano v. Travelers Ins. Co., 656 S.W.2d 266, 271 (Mo. banc 1983). Language in an insurance policy is said to be ambiguous “if it is reasonably open to different constructions,” Krombach v. Mayflower Ins. Co. Ltd., 827 S.W.2d 208, 210[2] (Mo. banc 1992), or if it is “reasonably susceptible to two or more meanings....” United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 522 S.W.2d 809, 817[7] (Mo. banc 1975). However, “plain language in an insurance policy is not to be used to create an ambiguity where in the context of the use and application of a term none exists_” Id. at 817[6]. Where an insurance policy is unambiguous, a court must enforce it as written absent a statute or public policy requiring coverage. Rodriguez v. General Accident Ins. Co., 808 S.W.2d 379, 382[5] (Mo. banc 1991). “[R]ules for construing contracts of insurance are inapplicable when a contract provision is clear and unambiguous.” American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ward, 789 S.W.2d 791, 795[3] (Mo. banc 1990).

Here, Columbia Mutual asserts on appeal that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Martins and Morris because its “Limit of Liability” policy language was unambiguous and clearly limited liability coverage to $25,000 for all damages suffered by the Martins, i.e., Sheryl’s bodily injury claim and Danny’s loss of consortium claim. Claiming the trial court’s reliance on Cano, 656 S.W.2d 266, was misplaced, Columbia Mutual argues that the language, syntax, and punctuation of its policy are so virtually identical to that analyzed and found to be unambiguous in Eaves v. Boswell, 852 S.W.2d 353 (Mo.App.1993), and State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Chambers, 860 S.W.2d 19 (Mo.App.1993), as to compel a judgment in its favor as a matter of law. For the reasons explained in the remainder of this opinion, we find merit in Columbia Mutual’s argument.

In Cano, 656 S.W.2d 266, the wife of a man injured in a motor vehicle accident with an uninsured motorist sought to recover her damages for loss of consortium. At issue was a policy provision that limited the insurer’s liability for “all damages because of bodily injury sustained by one person as a result of any one accident_” Id. at 268. The court held an ambiguity existed because the participle “sustained” could be read as modi-[677]*677frying either “damages” or “bodily injur[y].” Id. at 271. Therefore, construing the ambiguous provision against the insurance company, our supreme court ruled that the wife could recover her loss of consortium damages beyond her husband’s entitlement.

In Chambers, 860 S.W.2d 19, and Eaves, 852 S.W.2d 853, this court found the disputed policy provisions unambiguous and distinguishable from the provision in Cano. In Chambers, a mother sought recovery for the loss of her daughter’s services when her daughter was injured in an accident with the insured. The insured’s policy limited bodily injury liability to $25,000 for each person and $50,000 for each accident. The “each person” definition in the “Limits of Liability” clause read:

“Under ‘Each Person’ is the amount of coverage for all damages, including damages for care and loss of services, arising out of and due to bodily injury to one person.”

860 S.W.2d at 20 — 21[1], We noted the arrangement of the sentence and then analyzed its punctuation as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
887 S.W.2d 675, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1572, 1994 WL 533182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/columbia-mutual-insurance-co-v-morris-moctapp-1994.