LE MARS MUT. INS. CO., INC. v. Prehn

238 N.W.2d 274, 89 S.D. 673, 1975 S.D. LEXIS 191
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 1975
DocketFile 11480
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 238 N.W.2d 274 (LE MARS MUT. INS. CO., INC. v. Prehn) 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
LE MARS MUT. INS. CO., INC. v. Prehn, 238 N.W.2d 274, 89 S.D. 673, 1975 S.D. LEXIS 191 (S.D. 1975).

Opinions

WINANS, Justice.

This is a review of an action pursuant to our declaratory judgment law, SDCL 21-24, to determine the rights arising from an insurance contract as between the Appellant, the insured, and the Respondent, the insurer. All the facts in this matter were presented to the trial court by stipulation. Appellant appeals from a judgment filed with the court May 10, 1974, in favor of the-Respondent insurance company.

Mrs. Clinton Prehn was killed in an automobile accident on. January 7, 1973, in Stanley County. At the time of the accident Appellant Clinton Prehn and his wife had been for several years insured by LeMars Mutual Insurance Co., Inc., under its family combination automobile policy, which policy included an accidental death endorsement for $10,000. This coverage was provided to Appellant in virtue of the payment of an additional premium. In due course Respondent insurance company paid to Appellant the $10,000 benefit as the result of his wife’s death. At the time of her death Hazel Prehn was a passenger in an automobile operated by Mary Willemssen. Coincidentally the Willemssen vehicle was also insured by Respondent company. Appellant commenced an action against the two Willemssen [675]*675estates involved and reached a settlement for wrongful death in excess of $10,000.

Respondent settled with Appellant and then attempted to claim subrogation rights under the terms of insured’s policy which provided:

“1. Coverage A — Death Benefit: To pay the principal sum of $10,000 in the event of the death of the insured which shall result directly and independently of all other causes from bodily injury caused by accident and sustained by the insured while in or upon or while entering into or alighting from an automobile, or through being struck by a motor vehicle, provided the death shall occur within ninety days after the date of the accident.
* * * * * *
8. Subrogation: In the event of any payment under this endorsement, the company shall be subrogated to all the insured’s rights of recovery therefor against any person or organization and the insured shall execute and deliver instruments and papers and do whatever else is necessary to secure such rights. The insured shall do nothing after loss to prejudice such rights.”

Respondent sought a declaratory judgment in the circuit court to determine the rights of the parties and the court found in Respondent’s favor. There is no dispute concerning the fact that the policy in question was in force at the time and that the subrogation clause was a part of the policy. While counsel for Appellant has raised half a dozen different issues we think that the question of the policy’s conformity with the terms of our state statutes on the subject is dispositive and we therefore decide the case on that basis alone and reverse the ruling of the lower court.

SDCL 58-23-7 directs that:

“No application for an automobile liability policy may be taken with respect to any automobile registered or principally garaged in this state unless the supplemental [676]*676coverages set forth in SDCL 58-23-8 are offered to the named insured who shall have the right to reject in writing all or any one or more of such coverages.”

SDCL 58-23-8 says in part:

“Supplemental insurance coverages shall as a minimum include:
(1) accidental death benefits of at least ten thous- and dollars payable upon the loss of life of the named insured which shall result directly from and independently of all other causes from bodily injury, other than sickness or disease or death resulting therefrom, caused by accident sustained by the named insured while occupying an automobile, or entering or alighting therefrom, or through being struck by a motor vehicle while a pedestrian, if death occurs within ninety days of the accident;”.

In Westphal v. Amco Insurance Company, 1973, 87. S.D. 404, 209 N.W.2d 555, we dealt with another provision of our; insurance law concerning uninsured motorist coverage limited by other insurance. In that case we spoke with approval of Blakeslee v. Farm Bureau Mutual Ins. Co. of Mich., 1972, 388 Mich. 464, 201 N.W.2d 786. Blakeslee turned on a Michigan statute which provided:

“No . . . policy . . . shall be delivered . . . unless coverage is provided therein . . . for the protection of persons insured thereunder .... in limits ... set forth in [the Motor Vehicle Code] . . . unless the named insured rejects such coverage in writing . . .” 1965 P.A. 388; M.C.L.A. § 500.3010; M.S.A. § 24.13010.

In other words, the Michigan law had a mandatory provision that the insurance company tendering the [policy offer the additional provision. At the same time the potential insured was to- be given an option to reject such coverage in writing. The Michigan Court stated that “[t]he language of the statute is plain, unambiguous and mandatory. It unequivocally requires that ‘No . . . policy ... be delivered . . . unless coverage is provided [677]*677therein.’ Stated in the affirmative, every policy must have this coverage. Only after the mandatory offer is made can the insured reject it in writing.” We agree with the Court in Blakeslee when it says that “[i]t would be unconscionable to permit an insurance company offering statutorily required coverage to collect premiums for it with one. hand and allow it to take the coverage away with the other by using a self-devised ‘other insurance’ limitation. Nothing could more clearly defeat the intention of the legislature.” We have looked at the plain language of the statutes in question as set out supra and we find that they require that as a minimum the insurance company must offer the life insurance provision with no strings attached, at least to the $10,000 amount. This Respondent, has not done. Rather, what it gave with one hand (and what the insured pay to receive) it has attempted to take away with another. In short, the coverage provided to the extent that the subrogation clause should apply to the first $10,000 of recovery was less than what our legislature has required. The insurance company has received payments from the insured for a benefit which it has done its best not to provide. This provision does not conform to the fundamental requisites of our law.

We are convinced that the accidental death benefits mandated by section (1) of SDCL 58-23-8 are not to be equated with the indemnity for medical expenses of at least two thousand dollars required by section (3) of the same statute with regard to our decision on the validity of subrogation clauses.

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LE MARS MUT. INS. CO., INC. v. Prehn
238 N.W.2d 274 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
238 N.W.2d 274, 89 S.D. 673, 1975 S.D. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/le-mars-mut-ins-co-inc-v-prehn-sd-1975.