Fontenot v. FARM BUREAU INS. COMPANIES

629 So. 2d 495, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 3820, 1993 WL 511960
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 8, 1993
Docket93-222
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 629 So. 2d 495 (Fontenot v. FARM BUREAU INS. COMPANIES) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fontenot v. FARM BUREAU INS. COMPANIES, 629 So. 2d 495, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 3820, 1993 WL 511960 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

629 So.2d 495 (1993)

Monica FONTENOT, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
FARM BUREAU INSURANCE COMPANIES, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 93-222.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 8, 1993.

*496 Chuck David Granger, for Monica Fontenot.

Jimmy L. Dauzat, for Farm Bureau Ins. Companies.

Before STOKER, DOUCET, YELVERTON, COOKS and SAUNDERS, JJ.

DOUCET, Judge.

This appeal concerns uninsured motorist (UM) coverage.

On October 14, 1989, plaintiff, Monica Fontenot, was injured in an automobile accident in Ville Platte, Louisiana, while riding as a guest passenger in a 1982 Chevrolet Pickup truck. Her husband, Nicholas Fontenot, was the driver of the truck and solely at fault in causing the accident. The Chevy truck was a community asset. Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company (Farm Bureau) insured the truck providing both liability and UM limits of $50,000/$100,000. Farm Bureau also insured Monica Fontenot's separately owned Ford Thunderbird providing identical coverage. The Farm Bureau policy covering the Chevy truck paid the liability limits. However, the sum Monica received was insufficient to fully compensate her for the injuries she sustained. Monica then sued Farm Bureau to recover UM benefits. Cross motions for summary judgment were filed. Plaintiff correctly observed in her brief in support of the motion that the UM coverage contained in the Chevy truck policy was inaccessible due to valid provisions in the policy which prohibit recovery under both liability and UM coverage on the same vehicle. Nall v. State Farm, 406 So.2d 216 (La. 1981); Breaux v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 369 So.2d 1335 (La.1979). However, she claimed she was entitled to collect under the second UM policy covering her Ford Thunderbird. Defendant claimed that the UM statute precludes recovery of UM benefits under this second policy. The parties prepared joint written stipulations of undisputed facts as follows: 1) the driver of the vehicle, Nicholas Fontenot, was solely at fault; 2) Monica Fontenot sustained multiple injuries as a result of the accident; 3) Monica Fontenot's damages, including general and special damages, exceed the $50,000 of UM coverage under the Farm Bureau policy. The case was submitted for hearing on the competing motions for summary judgment. By agreement of all parties, the hearing was simultaneously held on the merits based upon the joint stipulation of facts. On February 1, 1993, the trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, denied defendant's motion and entered judgment in favor of Monica holding that Farm Bureau was liable for the UM coverage.

Defendant appeals claiming the trial court erred in holding that R.S. 22:1406(D)(1)(e) is inapplicable to this case. We agree.

The second UM policy covering the Ford Thunderbird which was not involved in the accident, provided that the UM coverage did not apply if, at the time of the accident, the insured was occupying a vehicle owned by him and not named in the policy. Limitations on UM coverage are only valid where they are statutorily authorized. The issue presented for our review is whether the limitation provided in R.S. 22:1406(D)(1)(e) is applicable in the instant case to limit the plaintiff's right of recovery against her UM insurer.

UM COVERAGE

R.S. 22:1406 provides, in pertinent part:

D. The following provisions shall govern the issuance of uninsured motorist coverage in this state:
(1)(e) The uninsured motorist coverage does not apply to bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death of an insured resulting therefrom, while occupying a motor vehicle owned by the insured if such motor vehicle is not described in the policy under which a claim is made, or is not a newly acquired or replacement motor vehicle covered under the terms of the policy. This provision shall not apply to uninsured motorist coverage provided in a policy that does not describe specific motor vehicles.

*497 In its written reasons for judgment, the trial court reasoned R.S. 22:1406(D)(1)(e) was inapplicable because when read in pari materia with the entire UM statute, the objective is to "... promote full recovery for damages by auto accident victims by making UM coverage available for their benefit as primary protection when the tort feasor is without insurance and as additional or excess coverage when the tort feasor is inadequately insured." He further reasoned that R.S. 22:1406(D)(1)(e) is intended as an anti-stacking prohibition feature only and the instant case is not one with a stacking issue.

This "ownership exclusion" provision in the UM statute, its application, and the considerations noted by the trial court have previously been addressed by the courts of this State and the validity of this provision has been upheld.

In Gaudet v. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins., 600 So.2d 892 (La.App. 1 Cir.), writ denied, 604 So.2d 1308 (La.1992), like the case at hand, the plaintiff was injured while riding as a guest passenger in his own truck. The plaintiff claimed he was entitled to UM benefits on policies which listed vehicles other than the truck involved in the accident because the liability limits of the truck were insufficient to cover the damages he suffered. The reviewing court affirmed the trial court judgment holding that the insurance company had no liability for UM coverage under the policy provisions and applicable statutes. The Second and Fourth Circuits also upheld the UM statute's ownership exclusion. Although the facts differ somewhat from the instant case in that the plaintiffs were able to collect on the UM policies covering the vehicles involved in the accident, they are identical in theory. See, Haltom v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 588 So.2d 792 (La.App. 2 Cir.1991), and Maloney v. State Farm Ins. Co., 583 So.2d 12 (La.App. 4 Cir.), writ denied, 586 So.2d 544 (La.) and 589 So.2d 1058 (La.1991).

In the instant case, plaintiff argues that the UM statute was amended to include R.S. 22:1406(D)(1)(e) when the Legislature recognized it had unsuccessfully limited the classes of persons who could avail themselves of more than one UM policy after the Louisiana Supreme Court decision in Wyatt v. Robin, 518 So.2d 494 (La.1988). In Wyatt, supra, the Supreme Court held that a person who is injured while occupying an owned vehicle and who is insured under more than one policy may choose, from all the policies, the one under which he prefers to recover. We agree with the reviewing court in Haltom, supra, wherein it reasoned as follows when presented with this issue.

In light of the clear language of LSA-R.S. 22:1406 D(1)(e), we conclude that the district court was correct in dismissing plaintiffs' claim against State Farm.
The McDonalds argue that a strict application of the statute to the instant circumstances would result in an inequitable treatment of a vehicle owner who is injured while riding as a guest passenger in her own car.
* * * * * *
Admittedly, the McDonalds' situation is not ideal. However, the amendment to the UM statute was clearly designed to keep vehicle owners from carrying UM coverage on only one of two or more owned vehicles, thus obtaining the benefit of UM coverage regardless of which vehicle they occupied, at the cost of only one UM policy.

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Bluebook (online)
629 So. 2d 495, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 3820, 1993 WL 511960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fontenot-v-farm-bureau-ins-companies-lactapp-1993.