Lowrey v. Valley Forge Insurance

617 A.2d 454, 224 Conn. 152, 1992 Conn. LEXIS 384
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedDecember 8, 1992
Docket14500
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 617 A.2d 454 (Lowrey v. Valley Forge Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lowrey v. Valley Forge Insurance, 617 A.2d 454, 224 Conn. 152, 1992 Conn. LEXIS 384 (Colo. 1992).

Opinion

Borden, J.

The sole issue in this appeal is the validity of a policy exclusion from underinsured motorists coverage1 of a motor vehicle that is owned by, or furnished or available for the regular use of, the named insured. The plaintiffs, Louise Lowrey and Sebastiana Scionti, appeal2 from the judgment of the trial court denying their application to vacate a compulsory arbitration award that denied them underinsured motorists coverage under a policy issued by the defendant, Valley Forge Insurance Company. The plaintiffs claim that: (1) the applicable regulation does not validate the policy exclusion that appears in the underinsured motorist poliey issued by the defendant; and (2) the [154]*154validity of the policy exclusion must be determined not by the regulation but by a statute, and the applicable statute does not authorize the exclusion. We affirm the judgment.

The facts are undisputed. In June, 1989, the plaintiffs were passengers in a car owned and operated by Alfreda Kozlowski, and suffered injuries as a result of a one car accident. Neither plaintiff was a resident of Kozlowski’s household. The defendant had issued an automobile insurance policy to Kozlowski covering the car and another car owned by her. The policy provided single-limit liability coverage for each car in the amount of $100,000, and underinsured motorist coverage for each car in the amount of $100,000. The defendant paid each plaintiff $50,000, thereby exhausting the liability coverage under the policy. The defendant, however, refused to pay the plaintiffs’ underinsured motorist claims.

The plaintiffs requested arbitration of their underinsured motorist coverage claims against the defendant. The arbitration panel, by a two to one vote, denied the claims. The trial court, in denying the plaintiffs’ application to vacate the award, held that the exclusion in Kozlowski’s policy was authorized by a state regulation and was therefore valid. This appeal followed.

The policy exclusion at issue in this case provides in pertinent part: “However, ‘uninsured motor vehicle’ does not include any vehicle or equipment: 1. Owned by or furnished or available for your regular use.”3 The [155]*155regulation at issue provides in pertinent part: “The insurer’s obligations to pay may be made inapplicable ... (2) if the uninsured motor vehicle is owned by (A) the named insured or any relative who is a resident of the same household or is furnished for the regular use of any of the foregoing.” Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 38-175a-6 (c) (2) (A).4

[156]*156The plain language of the policy exclusion makes it clear that the exclusion applied to the Kozlowski vehicle. The vehicle involved in the accident was owned by Kozlowski, who was the named insured under the policy issued by the defendant. Thus, the vehicle was not an “uninsured motor vehicle” under the policy.

A comparison of the exclusion with the regulation makes it equally clear that the exclusion was authorized by the regulation and is therefore valid. “When an insurer seeks to limit its liability for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage based on [a] regulation issued pursuant to [General Statutes (Rev. to 1989)] § 38-175c [now § 38a-336], it may do so only to the extent that the regulation expressly authorizes. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Ferrante, [201 Conn. 478, 483, 518 A.2d 373 (1986)]; see also Nicolletta v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 211 Conn. 640, 647-48, 560 A.2d 964 (1989). Similarly, where an insurer seeks to limit its liability based on the statute itself, rather than on the regulation, it should only be permitted to do so to the extent that the statute expressly authorizes. In order for a policy exclusion to be expressly authorized by [a] statute [or regulation], there must be substantial congruence between the statutory [or regulatory] provision and the policy provision.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Chmielewski v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 218 Conn. 646, 674, 591 A.2d 101 (1991). That congruence is present here.

The regulation expressly permits an exclusion from underinsured motorist coverage for a vehicle that is [157]*157owned by the named insured or by any resident relative of the named insured, or that is furnished for the regular use of the named insured or any such relative. The policy exclusion tracks the regulation by excluding such coverage for any vehicle that is owned by the named insured or by any resident relative of the named insured, or that is furnished or available for the regular use of the named insured or any such relative. We can perceive no incongruence between the regulation and the policy exclusion that would suggest that the policy exclusion was not authorized by the regulation. Compare Chmielewski v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., supra, 674-75.

Both the policy exclusion and the regulation on which it is based are fully consistent with the underlying rationale of underinsured motorist coverage, and with the difference between that coverage and liability coverage. In this connection, we agree with the reasoning of the Minnesota Supreme Court in two cases in which passengers in one car accidents unsuccessfully sought to recover underinsured motorists benefits from the carrier providing both liability and uninsured motorists coverage for the car involved in the accident.

“Liability insurance is purchased by an owner of a vehicle to protect passengers in that vehicle from the negligent driving of the owner or another driving the vehicle. Underinsured coverage, however, is intended to protect against a different type of risk, the risk that a negligent driver of another vehicle will have failed to purchase adequate liability insurance; that is, it is intended ‘to protect the named insured and other additional insureds from suffering an inadequately compensated injury caused by an accident with an inadequately insured automobile.’ Myers v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 336 N.W.2d 288, 291 (Minn. 1983). An insured wishing to provide greater protection from his own negligence for himself and his passengers should [158]*158purchase additional liability insurance coverage; allowing underinsured coverage in the instant case would, in essence, be allowing an individual to increase liability coverage by purchasing less expensive underinsured coverage.” Meyer v. Illinois Farmers Ins. Group, 371 N.W.2d 535, 537 (Minn. 1985).5

“Underinsured motorist coverage is first-party coverage and, in that sense, the coverage follows the person not the vehicle. Here, however, the [plaintiffs] have already collected under the liability coverage of the insurer of the [Kozlowski] car. To now collect further under the same insurer’s underinsured motorist coverage would be to convert the underinsured motorist coverage into third-party insurance, treating it essentially the same as third-party liability coverage.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dairyland Ins. Co. v. Mitchell
Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2016
McDonough v. Forrest
21 A.3d 546 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2011)
Farmers Texas County Mutual v. Hertz Corp.
923 A.2d 673 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2007)
Nichols v. Salem Subway Restaurant
912 A.2d 1037 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2006)
Gormbard v. Zurich Insurance
904 A.2d 198 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2006)
Giglio v. American Economy Insurance
900 A.2d 27 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2006)
Piersa v. Phoenix Insurance
871 A.2d 992 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2005)
Turcio v. Prudential Property Casualty, No. Cv01-0448616 (Jan. 27, 2003)
2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 1508 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2003)
Pudlo v. Allstate Insurance Company, No. 117153 (Aug. 23, 2000)
2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 9723 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2000)
Miller v. Nationwide Insurance Company, No. Cv99-0431545s (Jun. 29, 2000)
2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 7877 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2000)
Orkney v. Hanover Insurance
727 A.2d 700 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1999)
Vitti v. Allstate Insurance
713 A.2d 1269 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1998)
Reznik v. Allstate Insurance Company, No. Cv94 0046131s (Apr. 13, 1998)
1998 Conn. Super. Ct. 4600 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1998)
Fleet National Bank v. Aetna Ins. Co.
717 A.2d 861 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1997)
Peirolo v. American Nat'l Fire Ins. Co., No. Cv 94 55936 S (Feb. 14, 1997)
1997 Conn. Super. Ct. 1254 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1997)
Gallagher v. Covenant Insurance
668 A.2d 397 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1996)
Skratt v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., No. Cv 93-0348339 (Dec. 27, 1995)
1995 Conn. Super. Ct. 14368 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1995)
Keyes v. Pennsylvania General Accident Insurance
695 A.2d 543 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1995)
Serrano v. Aetna Insurance
664 A.2d 279 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
617 A.2d 454, 224 Conn. 152, 1992 Conn. LEXIS 384, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lowrey-v-valley-forge-insurance-conn-1992.