Jeffrey v. Erie Insurance Exchange

621 A.2d 635, 423 Pa. Super. 483, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 703
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 26, 1993
Docket1262
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 621 A.2d 635 (Jeffrey v. Erie Insurance Exchange) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jeffrey v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 621 A.2d 635, 423 Pa. Super. 483, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 703 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

CAVANAUGH, Judge:

Appellant Dorothy Jeffrey appeals from an order granting judgment on the pleadings to the appellee Erie Insurance Exchange. The ultimate issue in this appeal is as follows:

whether it is against the public policy of this Commonwealth for an insurer to reduce, dollar for dollar, the uninsured motorist coverage payments made to a guest passenger with liability coverage payments made under same policy to the same guest passenger if both the host driver and another uninsured driver are jointly liable for the injuries suffered by the passenger.

Resolution of this issue requires us to revisit the typically troublesome area of the interrelated requirements of the Uninsured Motorists Coverage Act, 40 Pa.S. § 2000 et seq. (UMCA) and the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1701 et seq. (MVFRL) Our review of this area indicates that judgment on the pleadings was appropriately granted. We affirm.

The facts of this case are undisputed. On May 19,1989, the appellant was riding in an automobile operated by her daughter, Myra Zilhaver, when she was seriously injured in a collision with a car operated by an uninsured driver, Arthur Blackwell. Her daughter’s vehicle was covered by a policy issued by the appellee. The appellant was not a named [487]*487insured under the policy issued by the appellee, and was not a resident of a named insured’s household.1

The appellee’ policy provides bodily injury liability coverage of $100,000 per person and uninsured motorist coverage of $100,000 per person. Asserting that her damages in the accident far exceeded $100,000, the appellant made a claim upon the appellee to recover under both the liability and uninsured motorist provisions of its policy. The appellee did not dispute its responsibility to pay out the policy’s liability coverage limit, $100,000, but denied that the appellant under the policy could additionally receive uninsurance benefits. As a result of negotiations, the appellant and the appellee agreed to settle the liability of Myra Zilhaver for the policy liability limits of $100,000, in exchange for the execution of a release, which preserved the appellant’s right to proceed against the appellee for uninsured motorist benefits. The instant action was initiated subsequently by the filing of a Petition to Compel Arbitration.

In her petition, the appellant alleged that her injuries were proximately caused by the uninsured driver and she requested that the court direct the appellee to arbitrate her uninsured motorist claim. The appellee filed in response an Answer and, as New Matter, a Counterclaim for Declaratory Judgment. The appellee alleged in it (1) the insured was solely responsible for the accident and (2) that a provision in the policy barred the present attempt to recover both liability coverage and uninsured motorists coverage. The provision referred to reads as follows:

Reductions
The amount of damages paid or payable under this Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists Coverage will be reduced by:
(1) the amounts paid or payable by or for those liable for bodily injury to anyone we protect;
(2) the amount of Liability Protection Paid or payable to anyone we protect.

[488]*488The appellee noted that a proper contractual interpretation of this language would serve to reduce (set-off) the amounts potentially recoverable under the uninsured motorists coverage by the amounts recovered from the liability coverage. The practical effect of this would to bar the appellant’s access to the uninsured motorist coverage, as the $100,000 limit of this coverage would be reduced by the $100,000 limit of liability coverage already paid by the appellee. In reply, the appellant again averred that the uninsured motorist was jointly and severally liable with the appellee’s insured for the collision and the resulting injuries and damages.

On July 9, 1990, the appellant filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, requesting that the reduction provision supra, more commonly known in the insurance industry as a “set-off clause,” be declared void as against public policy and that an arbitration of her claim be ordered. On August 16, 1990, the appellee filed a Counter-Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings seeking enforcement of the contract. As noted supra, enforcement of the contract would preclude the appellant’s recovery of uninsured benefits and consequently, obviate the need for arbitration. The lower court agreed with the appellee, and granted its Counter-Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.

Pertinent to this appeal, the lower court declared that the set-off does not violate public policy. It noted that “[n]either the Uninsured Motorist Coverage Act nor the M.V.F.R.L. preclude an insurer from reducing the uninsured motorist benefits of a policy by the amount claimant has received from the liability portion of the policy.” It further relied on a number of recently decided cases which arguably support the validity of set-off clauses, including Kovaleski v. Erie Insurance, 398 Pa.Super. 519, 531, 581 A.2d 585, 591 (1990); Newkirk v. United Services Automobile Assn., 388 Pa.Super. 54, 564 A.2d 1263, 1268 (1989) alloc. den., 528 Pa. 624, 597 A.2d 1153; Wolgemuth v. Harleysville Mutual Ins. Co., 370 Pa.Super. 51, 535 A.2d 1145 (1988); West American Ins. Co. v. Large, 48 Pa.D. & C.3d 468 (1988). It is from the court’s [489]*489order granting judgment on the pleadings that the appellant presently appeals.

The appellant makes the following two arguments: (1) the lower court erred in its determination that the present set-off clause is not void as repugnant to public policy and (2) the lower court erred by not finding the set-off provision ambiguous. We address first appellant’s contractual argument, as we need not address appellant’s public policy argument if we find her contractual argument persuasive.

The appellant argues that the policy set-off language sub judice is ambiguous and thus should be accordingly interpreted against the insurer. She relies on a recent Supreme Court case, Bateman v. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co., 527 Pa. 241, 590 A.2d 281 (1991), which interpreted against an insurer set-off language which made it impossible for the reader to determine whether the insurer would deduct payments from the under-insurance policy limits or from the total damage suffered. She feels that we should interpret the present set-off language in light of Bateman to apply to total damages.

The principles governing the interpretation of insurance contracts are well-settled. Review is directed at ascertaining the intent of the parties as manifested by the written instrument. Where the provision of a policy is ambiguous, the policy provision is construed in favor of the insured and against the insurer, the drafter of the instrument. Where the language of an insurance contract is clear and unambiguous, a court is required to give effect to that language. Standard Venetian Blind C. v. American Empire Insurance Co., 503 Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
621 A.2d 635, 423 Pa. Super. 483, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 703, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jeffrey-v-erie-insurance-exchange-pasuperct-1993.