Ford, A., Aplt. v. American States Ins.

154 A.3d 237, 638 Pa. 87, 2017 WL 694744, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 444
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 22, 2017
DocketFord, A., Aplt. v. American States Ins. - No. 13 WAP 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 154 A.3d 237 (Ford, A., Aplt. v. American States Ins.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ford, A., Aplt. v. American States Ins., 154 A.3d 237, 638 Pa. 87, 2017 WL 694744, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 444 (Pa. 2017).

Opinions

OPINION

JUSTICE BAER

Section 1731 of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (“MVFRL”) governs underinsured motorist (“UIM”) and uninsured motorist coverage. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1731. Pertinent to this appeal, the MVFRL requires insurers to offer insureds UIM coverage.1 Id. at § 1731(a). Insurers need to inform [90]*90named insureds that they may reject UIM coverage by signing a written rejection form contained in Subsection 1731(c) of the MVFRL. Id. § 1731(c). Subsection 1731(c.l) of the MVFRL states that any UIM coverage rejection form that does not “specifically comply” with Section 1731 of the MVFRL is void and that, if an insurer fails to produce a valid UIM coverage rejection form, then UIM coverage shall be equal to the policy’s bodily injury liability limits. Id. at § 1731(d). We granted allowance of appeal in this matter to determine whether an insurer’s UIM coverage rejection form does “specifically comply” with Section 1731 of the MVFRL if the insurer’s form is not a verbatim reproduction of the statutory rejection form found in Subsection 1731(c) of the MVFRL but, rather, differs from the statutory form in an inconsequential manner. For the reasons that follow, we hold that a UIM coverage rejection form specifically complies with Section 1731 of the MVFRL even if the form contains de minimis deviations from the statutory form. Because the Superior Court reached the proper result in this case, we affirm that court’s judgment.

The facts underlying this matter are undisputed. Audrey Ford (“Mother”) is the mother of Appellant Alisha Ford (“Appellant”). Mother purchased a policy of motor vehicle insurance from Appellee American States Insurance Company (“American States”), insuring a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier. At all times relevant to this matter, Appellant was an insured under Mother’s policy because she was a resident of Mother’s household. Importantly, Mother signed a UIM coverage rejection form on August 10, 2011, and neither she nor Appellant paid premiums for UIM coverage.

On March 19, 2013, Appellant was driving the 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier in Union Township, Pennsylvania, when she collided with another vehicle. Appellant suffered personal injuries as a result of the accident. The driver of the other vehicle (“Tortfeasor”) was responsible for the accident. Tortfeasor’s automobile insurance company paid Appellant the liability [91]*91policy limit of $25,000. Appellant subsequently sought UIM coverage from American States under Mother’s policy. However, because Mother had signed a UIM coverage rejection form, American States refused to provide UIM coverage to Appellant.

On July 17, 2013, Appellant filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against American States. In her complaint, Appellant averred that, pursuant to Subsection 1731(c) of MVFRL, a named insured may reject UIM coverage by signing the following form:

REJECTION OF UNDERINSURED MOTORIST PROTECTION
By signing this waiver I am rejecting underinsured motorist coverage under this policy, for myself and all relatives residing in my household. Underinsured coverage protects me and relatives living in my household for losses and damages suffered if injury is caused by the negligence of a driver who does not have enough insurance to pay for all losses and damages. I knowingly and voluntarily reject this coverage.

75 Pa.C.S. § 1731(c).

Appellant highlighted that Subsection 1731(c.l) of the MVFRL instructs an insurer that its UIM coverage rejection form must “specifically comply” with Section 1731 of the MVFRL or the form is void. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1731(c.l).2 Appellant [92]*92further noted that the same subsection of the MVFRL requires an insurer to produce a valid UIM coverage rejection form; otherwise, the insurer must provide UIM coverage equal to the policy’s bodily injury liability limits. Id

As Appellant noted in her complaint, the UIM coverage rejection form that Mother signed and that American States relied upon when Appellant sought UIM benefits tracks the statutory rejection form found in Subsection 1731(c) of the MVFRL, save for a few minor deviations. The form at issue in this case references “motorists” instead of “motorist” in its title line and first sentence, and it injects the word “motorists” between “Underinsured” and “coverage” in the second sentence. Thus, with the deviations from the statutory language emphasized, it reads:

REJECTION OF UNDERINSURED MOTORISTS PROTECTION
By signing this waiver I am rejecting underinsured motorists coverage under this policy, for myself and all relatives residing in my household. Underinsured motorists coverage protects me and relatives living in my household for losses and damages suffered if injury is caused by the negligence of a driver who does not have enough insurance to pay for all losses and damages. I knowingly and voluntarily reject this coverage.

Appellant’s Complaint, 7/17/2013, Exhibit 3 (emphasis added).

In her complaint, Appellant took the position that the UIM coverage rejection form that Mother signed is void because it fails to “specifically comply” with the rejection form contained in the MVFRL, due to the minor discrepancies between the statutory form and the policy’s form. Accordingly, Appellant sought an order from the trial court declaring that American States must provide her with UIM coverage equal to the bodily injury liability limits of her Mother’s policy.

The trial court eventually ordered the parties to file any stipulations of fact and competing motions for summary judgment. The parties complied with the court’s order. In support [93]*93of her motion for summary judgment, Appellant reasserted the argument that she presented in her complaint, contending that Subsection 1731(c.l) of the MVFRL clearly and unambiguously requires a UIM rejection form to “specifically comply” with Section 1731 of the MVFRL and that the form in question fails to do so; therefore, the form is void, and she is entitled to UIM coverage. Appellant supported her position by citing to case law from this Court and the Superior Court.

Regarding this Court’s precedent, Appellant cited Lewis v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 568 Pa. 105, 793 A.2d 143 (2002), specifically referring to a footnote where this Court quoted the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania which stated, “Section 1731(c.l) imposes something akin to strict liability- on insurers who do not follow the legislature’s guidelines on the proper format for rejection forms .... ” Lewis, 793 A.2d at 153 n.14 (quoting Leymeister v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 100 F.Supp.2d 269, 272 (M.D. Pa. 2000)).

As to Superior Court decisions, Appellant first referenced American International Insurance Co. v. Vaxmonsky, 916 A.2d 1106 (Pa. Super. 2006). The insurer in Vaxmonsky deleted from its UIM coverage rejection form the word “all” from the phrase “all losses and damages.” See 75 Pa.C.S.

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Bluebook (online)
154 A.3d 237, 638 Pa. 87, 2017 WL 694744, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 444, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-a-aplt-v-american-states-ins-pa-2017.