Kershner v. Prudential Insurance

554 A.2d 964, 382 Pa. Super. 95, 1989 Pa. Super. LEXIS 428
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 3, 1989
DocketNo. 600
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 554 A.2d 964 (Kershner v. Prudential Insurance) 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
Kershner v. Prudential Insurance, 554 A.2d 964, 382 Pa. Super. 95, 1989 Pa. Super. LEXIS 428 (Pa. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinions

JOHNSON, Judge:

In this appeal we are asked to decide whether the trial court committed error in granting a directed verdict. Finding the directed verdict to have been granted upon grounds [97]*97outside the boundaries of the controversy as defined by the parties’ stipulations, we reverse and remand.

Kathleen Carter Kershner, appellant, brought an action against her no-fault automobile insurer, the Prudential Insurance Company, for medical expenses and lost wages alleged to be due her under the personal injury protection provisions of her policy. Kershner had carried auto insurance with Prudential since 1976. Subsequently she added and subtracted vehicles and changed her coverage in several respects to minimize cost. In 1981 she allegedly added a collateral benefits option to her policy designating the Prudential coverage as excess over other insurance held, and for this she received a reduction in her premium to reflect Prudential’s decreased risk. Her primary health coverage consisted of comprehensive medical insurance policies with Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Company and Postmaster’s Health Insurance. Kershner had no disability coverage.

On September 25, 1982 Kershner was seriously injured in an automobile accident and was unable to work for several months. Because she had no disability insurance, the board of directors of her employer of sixteen years, the Delaware Valley Mental Health Foundation, voted to give Kershner a sum equal to the salary she would have earned during this period. Kershner’s medical insurance covered her medical bills. When Kershner sought to recover medical expenses and wage loss from her auto policy, Prudential denied her claim on the basis of the collateral benefits clause. Kershner initiated an action against Prudential, alleging that she never added a collateral benefits clause to her policy.

At commencement of the jury trial the parties agreed to a number of stipulations and presented them to the court. The court in turn furnished them to the jury with the explanation that these were to be considered as true and agreed upon facts and conclusions. The parties agreed that Kershner was injured in the automobile accident, that Prudential was her automobile insurer, that the medical and related bills totaled $29,976.19, that these were fair and [98]*98reasonable charges, and that Prudential had already paid $5,137.00 of this amount. The parties agreed that if the collateral benefits clause was not in the contract, then Prudential would pay Kershner the balance of this sum and would also pay Kershner’s lost wages of $2,958.00 plus 18% interest. The thirteenth and fourteenth stipulations read:

13: If [Kershner’s] policy did contain a coordination of benefits clause at the time of the accident then the only issue for the jury is whether the payments of money by Delaware Valley Mental Health Foundation to plaintiff for the period from September, 25, 1982 to January 1, 1983 is a benefit that precludes [Kershner’s] claim for those monies.
14: That the balance of the medical bills not paid by Prudential Insurance Company, balance being $24,839.34, has been paid by collateral sources including Massachusetts Mutual Health Insurance.

N.T., 9-18-86, p. 65.

Thus, the stipulations defined the primary issue, whether Kershner’s policy did, in fact, contain a collateral benefits clause. Kershner, her own main witness, testified that she never received the endorsement booklet containing the clause. Upon cross-examination, she revealed less certainty on this point. Prudential’s witnesses testified that an endorsement booklet is always sent out with the body of the policy. A claims administrator testified to and documented the reduction in premium on Kershner’s policy reflecting Prudential’s decreased liability. In preparation for a finding that the clause was indeed part of the policy, Kershner’s employer testified that the payment made by the board of directors of the Delaware Valley Mental Health Foundation for the period during which Kershner was disabled was a gratuitous act and was not made pursuant to a pre-arranged plan.

Following the close of testimony, the court extracted the factual issue it would submit to the jury, framing the question in terms of the evidence given: Did Kershner prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she did not [99]*99receive the endorsement booklet? Once the jury resolved this fact question, it would be left to the court to interpret the clause. Standard Venetian Blind Co. v. American Empire Insurance Co., 503 Pa. 300, 469 A.2d 563 (1983). Both counsel agreed upon the form and appropriateness of this question. On September 22, 1986 the jury returned a verdict of “no” to the question, thereby finding that Kershner did, in fact, receive the endorsement booklet. From this verdict the court concluded as a matter of law that the clause was a part of the insurance contract at the time of the accident. Therefore, by stipulation, the only remaining issue was whether the sum granted by Kershner’s employer barred her recovery for lost wages from Prudential.

However, at this point Kershner asked the court for a directed verdict, which was granted. The court explained that because Prudential had not met its burden of producing evidence of the primary insurance contracts, it could not prevail. This issue had not been in the case until raised at this point by the court. The court denied Kershner’s request for attorney’s fees. Following the filing and denial of post-trial motions, both parties appealed, Prudential from the directed verdict and Kershner from the trial court’s denial of her request to be awarded attorney’s fees.

On June 15, 1988 a panel of this Court affirmed the trial court on both issues. One panel member concurred on the issue of attorney’s fees but dissented from the affirmance of the granting of the directed verdict because, on the basis of the stipulation, the existence of and the status of the collateral insurance was not at issue. On July 20, 1988, Prudential filed a petition for reargument on the issue of whether the trial court’s granting of the directed verdict should be reversed. By order of October 24, 1988 this Court granted reargument en banc limited solely to Prudential’s appeal, No. 600 Philadelphia 1987, the issue of whether the directed verdict was proper. The order severed Kershner’s appeal from the trial court’s denial of attorney’s fees, No. 863 Philadelphia 1987, and ordered the judgment on that issue reinstated.

[100]*100We now address the sole issue before the Court en banc: whether the trial court’s grant of the directed verdict was proper. Key to the resolution of this issue is the role of the stipulations in this trial. It is well-settled that parties may bind themselves by stipulation on matters relating to individual rights and obligations, as long as their stipulations do not affect the court’s jurisdiction or due order of business. Tyler v. King, 344 Pa.Super. 78, 496 A.2d 16 (1985). Moreover, stipulations are binding upon the court as well as on the parties agreeing to them. Park v. Greater Delaware Valley Savings & Loan Association, 362 Pa.Super. 54, 523 A.2d 771 (1987).

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Bluebook (online)
554 A.2d 964, 382 Pa. Super. 95, 1989 Pa. Super. LEXIS 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kershner-v-prudential-insurance-pasuperct-1989.