Holcomb v. Universal Ins. Co.

640 So. 2d 718, 93 La.App. 3 Cir. 1424, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 1698, 1994 WL 234225
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 1994
Docket93-1424
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 640 So. 2d 718 (Holcomb v. Universal Ins. Co.) 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
Holcomb v. Universal Ins. Co., 640 So. 2d 718, 93 La.App. 3 Cir. 1424, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 1698, 1994 WL 234225 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

640 So.2d 718 (1994)

David HOLCOMB et ux, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 93-1424.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 1, 1994.

Samuel Harold Craven, Alexandria, for David Holcomb et ux.

John David Ziober, Baton Rouge, for Universal Ins. Co.

Before GUIDRY, C.J., and YELVERTON and WOODARD, JJ.

GUIDRY, Chief Judge.

Defendant, Universal Insurance Company, a foreign insurance company domiciled in Fort Smith, Arkansas, appeals a judgment of the trial court applying Louisiana law to *719 interpretation of an automobile insurance policy issued by it to an Arkansas resident and awarding plaintiffs $25,000 in underinsured motorist benefits.

FACTS

The facts in this case are not in dispute. This litigation arises out of a vehicular accident which occurred on June 25, 1991 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Sussanne Holcomb, plaintiff David Holcomb's wife, was a guest passenger in a 1982 Nissan 200 SX owned and driven by Sally D. Bradshaw. All the occupants of the Bradshaw vehicle were residents and domiciliaries of Bismark, Arkansas. The Bradshaw vehicle was stopped in obedience to a red traffic signal light when it was struck in the rear by a vehicle driven by Karen Frazier and owned by Steve Frazier, both residents and domiciliaries of Alexandria, Louisiana.

The vehicle operated by Frazier was insured by State Farm, with liability coverage limits of $25,000/50,000/25,000. The plaintiffs settled their claim against the Fraziers and State Farm for payment of the full policy limit of $25,000 and released the Fraziers and State Farm from all further liability, reserving their rights to proceed against any and all uninsured/underinsured (UM) coverage which might be available under any other policy or policies.

Ms. Bradshaw and her vehicle were covered by a "personal auto policy" issued by Universal Insurance Company (Universal) of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The policy was issued and delivered in Arkansas by the Hastings Insurance Agency of Hot Springs, Arkansas and covered Ms. Bradshaw's 1982 Nissan 200 SX which was licensed and titled in Arkansas.

The Holcombs' damages admittedly exceeded the limits of the Frazier policy and they filed this action against Universal seeking underinsured motorist benefits under the Bradshaw policy. Under Arkansas law, UM coverage is separable into two different components: uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage. Ms. Bradshaw's policy provided uninsured motorist coverage, but she had rejected underinsured motorist coverage.

Universal filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that Ms. Bradshaw's policy clearly showed she had rejected underinsured motorist coverage. In denying Universal's motion, the trial court applied Louisiana law, stating in reasons for judgment:

As an initial matter it must be determined which law to apply to the contract of insurance, Louisiana's or Arkansas'. The general rule for determining which state's laws govern the substance of a contract is provided in La.C.C. Art. 3537, which states:
Except as otherwise provided in this Title, an issue of conventional obligations is governed by the law of the state whose policies would be most seriously impaired if its law were not applied to that issue.
That state is determined by evaluating the strength and pertinence of the relevant policies of the involved states in the light of: (1) the pertinent contacts of each state to the parties and the transaction, including the place of negotiation, formation, and performance of the contract, the location of the object of the contract, and the place of domicile, habitual residence, or business of the parties; (2) the nature, type, and purpose of the contract; and (3) the policies referred to in Article 3515, as well as the policies of facilitating the orderly planning of transactions, of promoting multistate commercial intercourse, and of protecting one party from undue imposition by the other.

In analyzing the facts and law, the trial judge relied on three cases: Bell v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., 527 F.Supp. 300 (1981); Willett v. National Fire and Marine Insurance Company, 594 So.2d 966 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1992), writ denied, 598 So.2d 355 (La.1992); Bloodworth v. Carroll, 455 So.2d 1197 (La.App.2d Cir.1984); and, concluded:

After evaluating the strength and pertinence of the relevant policies of Louisiana and Arkansas as directed by La.C.C. Art. 3537, it is apparent that Louisiana is the state whose policies would be most seriously impaired if its law were not applied to *720 this issue. Therefore this court will use Louisiana law to determine what coverage if any is provided by the Universal insurance policy issued to Ms. Bradshaw.
Generally, uninsured motorist coverage is required by law to be included in all automobile liability insurance "delivered or issued for delivery in this state" unless rejected by the insured. La.R.S. 22:1406D(1)(a)(i).
Even if the insurance is not "delivered or issued for delivery" in this state, the same uninsured motorist coverage requirement applies to "any liability insurance covering any accident which occurs in this state and involves a resident of this state". La.R.S. 22:1406D(1)(a)(iii); Willett, supra, 594 So.2d at p. 969.
While there is a conceptual difference, there is no legal distinction between underinsured motorist coverage and uninsured motorist coverage in Louisiana. La.R.S. 22:1406D(2)(b) states:
For the purposes of this coverage the term uninsured motor vehicle shall, subject to the terms and conditions of such coverage, also be deemed to include an insured motorist vehicle when the automobile liability insurance coverage on such vehicle is less than the amount of damages suffered by an insured and/or the passengers in the insured's vehicle at the time of an accident, as agreed to by the parties and their insurer's [sic] or as determined by final adjudication.

In Arkansas, uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage are different and it is possible to reject underinsured motorist coverage while retaining uninsured motorist coverage.

In Louisiana, to achieve the same result, uninsured motorist coverage must be rejected. This clearly was not done by Ms. Bradshaw. She rejected underinsured motorist coverage instead. This is not a valid rejection of uninsured motorist coverage under La.R.S. 22:1406D(1)(a)(i) and uninsured motorist coverage covers the plaintiff's claim arising from this accident.

In accordance with his reasons for judgment, the trial judge found Universal's policy provided $25,000 of underinsured motorist coverage and awarded same to plaintiffs.

On appeal, Universal argues that the trial judge erred in applying Louisiana law to plaintiffs' action. We agree and reverse.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

La.C.C. arts. 3515 through 3549, which deal with conflicts of law, was passed by Acts 1991, No. 923. Section four of that act provides: "This Act shall become effective on January 1, 1992, and shall apply to all actions filed after that date ". (emphasis ours). Plaintiffs' action was filed in May 1992. Therefore, these articles enacted by the legislature in 1991 are applicable to this suit.

We note that the trial judge, in his reasons for judgment, stated that he was relying on La.C.C. art.

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Bluebook (online)
640 So. 2d 718, 93 La.App. 3 Cir. 1424, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 1698, 1994 WL 234225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holcomb-v-universal-ins-co-lactapp-1994.