Gloe v. Union Insurance Co.

2005 SD 30, 694 N.W.2d 252, 2005 S.D. LEXIS 29
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 2, 2005
DocketNone
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 2005 SD 30 (Gloe v. Union Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gloe v. Union Insurance Co., 2005 SD 30, 694 N.W.2d 252, 2005 S.D. LEXIS 29 (S.D. 2005).

Opinions

GILBERTSON, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1.] Michael Gloe’s parents were struck and killed by an automobile driven by Donald Huber. Gloe did not reside in his parents’ household, nor was he physically present at or injured as a result of the accident. Gloe and his two siblings received a total of $125,000 for the wrongful death claims arising from their father’s death and $125,000 for their mother’s death from two insurers who provided liability coverage for the accident. Gloe sought underinsurance benefits under his parents’ Union policy. The trial court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of Gloe, holding Gloe was legally entitled to recover wrongful death damages from the operator and the owner of an underinsured motor vehicle because of the death of his parents. The trial court concluded Union was obligated to pay Gloe for his damages subject to the applicable limit of the under-insured motorist coverage. The trial court held Union’s UIM limit of liability was to be determined by subtracting the amount of liability insurance proceeds received by Gloe after allocation among all wrongful death beneficiaries, rather than the entire amount paid by the liability carriers on behalf of the tortfeasor. Reversed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

[¶ 2.] For purposes of the declaratory action, Gloe and Union stipulated and agreed to the following facts: On September 1, 2001, pedestrians Larry and Verna Mae Gloe were struck and killed by a van [255]*255driven by Donald Huber in Watertown, South Dakota. Each of the three surviving adult children, Scott Gloe,1 Karen Nelson,2 and Michael Gloe, asserted wrongful death claims against the van driver for the deaths of Larry and Verna Mae. In exchange for the release of all claims against Huber and the owner of the van3 arising from the deaths, two liability insurers4 together paid a total of $125,000 to the personal representative of Larry and $125,000 to the personal representative of Verna Mae for the wrongful death claims filed by their personal representative.5 .The settlements exhausted the liability coverage available under the two policies. The three adult children were the statutory beneficiaries entitled to those wrongful death proceeds. Each child received $41,583 for the death of their father and $40,611 for the death of their mother. The estates released the tortfeasor as a part of the settlement.

[¶3.] Gloe brought this claim for un-derinsured motorist (UIM) benefits against Union, his parents’ insurance carrier. This action was brought in Gloe’s individual capacity, rather than by the personal representative of his parents’ estates on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries.6 The Union policy provided UIM coverage with limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence. Gloe conceded that the $41,583 he received for the wrongful death of his father and the $40,611 he received for the wrongful death of his mother were proper liability coverage amounts to setoff from the $100,000 UIM per person limit.

[¶4.] Union denied Gloe’s claim maintaining that no UIM benefits were available to Gloe under his parents’ insurance contract, as a single $100,000 per person limit applied to Larry’s death, and another $100,000 per person limit applied to Verna Mae’s death. Union further argued that both SDCL 58-11-9.5 and the contract language allowed Union to setoff the entire $125,000 of liability proceeds paid on behalf of the tortfeasor to Verna Mae’s personal representative against the single $100,000 per person UIM coverage limit available as a result of her death. Union argued the same single per person limit [256]*256and setoff applied to the coverage for Larry’s death. Under Union’s approach, UIM coverage would be exhausted and no payment would result.

[¶ 5.] The trial court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of Gloe, holding Gloe was an insured under the policy language, and was legally entitled to recover wrongful death damages from the operator of the underinsured motor vehicle due to the deaths of his parents. The trial court concluded Union was obligated to pay Gloe for his damages subject to the applicable per person UIM limit of $100,000. The trial court also held Union’s limit of liability was to be determined by subtracting the amount of liability proceeds received by Gloe, rather than by subtracting the total amount of liability insurance paid on behalf of the tortfeasor for each death.

[¶ 6.] Union appealed two issues:

1. Whether the trial court erred when it determined that under South Dakota statutes UIM benefits were available after the amount paid by the liability insurance carriers on behalf of the tortfeasor exceeded the limits of Union’s underinsured motorist coverage.
2. Whether the trial court erred when it held UIM benefits were available to Michael Gloe under the language of Union’s policy.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 7.] Under SDCL 21-24-13, a declaratory judgment is reviewed by this Court as we would any other judgment or order. Nelson v. Farmers Mut. Ins. Co. of Nebraska, 2004 SD 86, ¶ 5, 684 N.W.2d 74, 76 (citing SDCL 21-24-13; Parks v. Cooper, 2004 SD 27, ¶ 20, 676 N.W.2d 823, 828-29). The trial court’s interpretation and application of relevant statutes are reviewed under the de novo standard, and given no deference by this Court. West-field Ins. Co., Inc. v. Rowe, 2001 SD 87, ¶ 4, 631 N.W.2d 175, 176 (citing Maryott v. First Nat’l, Bank of Eden, 2001 SD 43, ¶ 17, 624 N.W.2d 96, 102).

[¶ 8.] We use statutory construction to discover the true intent of the legislature in enacting the law, which is ascertained primarily from the language used in the statute. State v. Myrl & Roy’s Paving, Inc., 2004 SD 98, ¶ 6, 686 N.W.2d 651, 653-54 (citing Martinmaas v. Engelmann, 2000 SD 85, ¶ 49, 612 N.W.2d 600, 611). We confine ourselves to the language used by the legislature in order to determine what the legislature said, rather than what the courts think it should have said. Id. In doing so, we must attempt to give words their plain meaning and effect, and read statutes as a whole, as well as enactments relating to the same subject. State v. 1-90 Truck Haven Service, Inc., 2003 SD 51, ¶ 3, 662 N.W.2d 288, 290 (citing Martinmaas, 2000 SD 85, ¶ 49, 612 N.W.2d at 611).

[¶ 9.] In addition, “[w]hen interpreting insurance contracts, we have uniformly held them renewable as a matter of law under the de novo standard.” Opperman v. Heritage Mut. Ins. Co., 1997 SD 85, ¶ 3, 566 N.W.2d 487, 489 (citing DeSmet Ins. Co. v. Gibson, 1996 SD 102, ¶ 5, 552 N.W.2d 98, 99) (citations omitted). “This includes determining whether an insurance contract is ambiguous.” Id. (citing Rogers v. Allied Mut. Ins. Co., 520 N.W.2d 614, 616 (S.D.1994)).

ANALYSIS AND DECISION

[¶ 10.] 1. Whether the trial court erred when it determined that under South Dakota statutes UIM benefits were available after the amount paid by liability insurance carriers on behalf of the tortfeasor [257]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 SD 30, 694 N.W.2d 252, 2005 S.D. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gloe-v-union-insurance-co-sd-2005.