Corrigan v. Progressive Insurance Co.

411 S.W.3d 306, 2013 WL 4815158, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1033
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 10, 2013
DocketNo. ED 99380
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 411 S.W.3d 306 (Corrigan v. Progressive Insurance Co.) 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
Corrigan v. Progressive Insurance Co., 411 S.W.3d 306, 2013 WL 4815158, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1033 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

KURT S. ODENWALD, Judge.

Introduction

Appellants Patrick Corrigan and Sean Corrigan (“Appellants”) appeal from the trial court’s judgment denying their motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment in favor of Progressive Northwestern Insurance Company (“Progressive”). Appellants filed a petition for declaratory judgment seeking a declaration that they were entitled to $600,000 in underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage. Progressive denied liability for $600,000, claiming that Appellants were not permitted to stack UIM coverage under the policy and were limited to $300,000 in UIM benefits. After competing motions for summary judgment were filed, the trial court entered summary judgment in favor of Progressive. Appellants now contend that the trial court erred in its summary [309]*309judgment rulings because the subject motorcycle insurance policy (“insurance policy”) is ambiguous as to whether it allows for stacking of UIM coverage benefits, thereby requiring the trial court to construe the insurance policy in favor of the insured and allow the stacking of benefits.

Because the insurance policy unambiguously prohibits the stacking of UIM benefits, we find that there are no genuine issues of material fact and hold that Progressive is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We affirm the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of Progressive and its denial of Appellants’ motion for summary judgment.

Factual and Procedural History

Viewed in the light most favorable to Appellants, the record contains the following undisputed facts. Christopher Corrigan (“Corrigan”) had one motorcycle insurance policy with Progressive that insured both a 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a 2009 BMW motorcycle, each owned by Corrigan. Corrigan maintained UIM coverage on both motorcycles under the policy, paying separate UIM premiums for each motorcycle. The declarations page of the insurance policy lists a $300,000 combined single limit for each accident under the UIM coverage provisions for each motorcycle.

On October 1, 2011, Corrigan was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Jessica Griffin (“Griffin”). At the time of the accident, Corrigan was driving the 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Corrigan’s sons, the Appellants in this matter, settled their claim against Griffin for $25,000, which constituted the liability limits of her policy.

After exhausting Griffin’s liability coverage, Appellants made a claim to Progressive for a total of $600,000 in UIM coverage, seeking $300,000 under each of the two UIM policies. Appellants contended that Corrigan’s policy allowed stacking of the two UIM coverages for the 2007 Harley-Davidson and the 2009 BMW.1 Progressive claimed that Appellants were entitled to only the $300,000 combined single limit of the UIM coverage for the 2007 Harley-Davidson that Corrigan was operating at the time of the accident.

Appellants filed a petition for declaratory judgment in April 2012 seeking a declaration as to the rights and liabilities of the parties. Specifically, Appellants sought a declaration that UIM coverage was applicable in this case, the UIM coverage for the 2009 BMW was excess to that of the UIM coverage for the 2007 Harley-Davidson, and the combined single limit of $300,000 for both the 2007 Harley-Davidson and the 2009 BMW should be stacked to provide $600,000 of UIM coverage under the insurance policy.

Progressive filed an answer to Appellants’ petition, followed by a motion for summary judgment arguing that the insurance policy clearly and unambiguously prohibits the stacking of UIM coverage. Appellants also filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the insurance policy is ambiguous as to whether the insured could stack UIM coverage for each covered vehicle. Because the insurance policy is ambiguous in this regard, Appellants contended the policy must be interpreted against the insurer to grant coverage rather than defeat it.

In November 2012, the trial court entered an Order and Judgment granting Progressive’s motion for summary judg[310]*310ment. Appellants’ motion for summary judgment was denied. This appeal follows.

Point on Appeal

In their sole point on appeal, Appellants claim that the trial court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment and in granting Progressive’s motion for summary judgment because the insurance policy issued to Corrigan is ambiguous as to whether the insured may stack UIM coverage benefits. Appellants argue the ambiguity should be resolved in favor of the insured and the UIM coverage should be stacked.

Standard of Review

We review the entry of summary judgment de novo. Rice v. Shelter Mut. Ins. Co., 301 S.W.3d 43, 46 (Mo. banc 2009). We review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. ITT Commercial Finance Corp. v. Midr-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). We will affirm where the pleadings, depositions, affidavits, answers to interrogatories, exhibits, and admissions establish that no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Beyerbach v. Girardeau Contractors, Inc., 868 S.W.2d 163, 165 (Mo.App. E.D.1994).

Interpretation of an insurance policy is a question of law that this Court determines de novo. Ritchie v. Allied Property & Cas. Ins. Co., 307 S.W.3d 132, 135 (Mo. banc 2009).

Discussion

Appellants’ sole point on appeal focuses on the ambiguity of the language used in Corrigan’s insurance policy regarding the insured’s ability to stack UIM coverage.

Although the trial court gave no reasons for granting summary judgment in favor of Progressive, this Court must presume that the trial court granted judgment for the reasons set forth in Progressive’s motion for summary judgment. See Stewart v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 349 S.W.3d 381, 385 (Mo.App. W.D.2011). In its motion for summary judgment, Progressive correctly argued that, unlike uninsured motorist coverage, UIM coverage is not mandated by Missouri law. Accordingly, the coverage and limits of UIM coverage included in an insurance policy are determined solely by the terms of the contract entered into between the insured and the insurer. Progressive claimed that the insurance policy between Corrigan and Progressive unambiguously prohibits the stacking of UIM coverage, thereby limiting Progressive’s liability under the UIM provisions to $300,000. We agree.

In Missouri, stacking of insurance benefits allows an insured “to obtain multiple insurance coverage benefits for an injury either from more than one policy, as where the insured has two or more separate vehicles under separate policies, or from multiple coverages provided within a single policy, as when an insured has one policy which covers more than one vehicle.” Ritchie, 307 S.W.3d at 135 (quoting Niswonger v. Farm Bureau Town & Country Ins. Co. of Missouri,

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Bluebook (online)
411 S.W.3d 306, 2013 WL 4815158, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1033, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corrigan-v-progressive-insurance-co-moctapp-2013.