Martin v. Illinois Farmers Insurance

742 N.E.2d 848, 252 Ill. Dec. 310, 318 Ill. App. 3d 751, 2000 Ill. App. LEXIS 1012
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 29, 2000·No. 1-99-3093·Published·Cited by 63 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE QUINN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Theresa Martin, brought a declaratory judgment action seeking to construe the limits of underinsured motorist coverage contained in insurance policies issued by defendants Illinois Farmers Insurance Company and Country Mutual Insurance Company. The trial court granted defendants’ motions to dismiss plaintiffs action for declaratory relief pursuant to sections 2 — 615 and 2 — 619 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 735 ILCS 5/2 — 615, 2 — 619 (West 1998). On appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in finding that: (1) the antistacking provisions contained in defendants’ respective insurance policies were unambiguous; (2) her loss of society claim is subject to the per-person limit of the Illinois Farmers Insurance policy; and (3) she is not entitled to recover damages for defendants’ alleged “vexatious and unreasonable” delay in settling her claim pursuant to section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code (215 ILCS 5/155 (West 1998)). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

On March 7, 1997, plaintiffs husband, Richard Martin III was killed while riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by his father, Richard Martin, Jr. Richard Martin, Jr., had liability insurance with Illinois Farmers Insurance Company (Farmers) that was in full force and effect at the time of the accident with underinsured motorist coverage Emits of $100,000 per person/$300,000 per occurrence.

The Farmers pohcy contains two clauses that are particularly significant to this appeal. Farmers’ policy first defines “underinsured motor vehicle” as follows:

“[A] motor vehicle for which the owner or operator is insured or bonded for bodily injury liability at the time of the accident in an amount equal to or greater than the amount specified by the financial responsibility laws of Illinois, but less than the limits of liability shown on the declaration page of this policy for uninsured motorist coverage.”

The next clause of importance in the Farmers policy is the “Emits of liabiEty” clause for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which provides in pertinent part:

“The Emits of liability for underinsured motorist coverage are the same limits shown on the declaration page of this policy for uninsured motorist coverage. The amount of underinsured motorist coverage we will pay shall be the lesser of:
(1) The limits of liabiEty reduced by all amounts paid in damages to the insured person by or for any person or organization who may be legally liable for the bodily injury;
(2) The unrecovered amount of damages established by an agreement, settlement, or judgment with or for the persons or organizations legally liable for the bodily injury.”

We note that the section quoted above is cited by both Farmers and plaintiff as being a part of the insurance pohcy. However, a thorough review of the record indicates that this section of the insurance pohcy was not included in the record. Farmers’ motion to dismiss, which is included in the record, is the only reference the parties provide as evidence of the existence of this section of the pohcy. As both parties have cited the same section of the pohcy, we find that it is not in dispute and accept it as true.

Plaintiff had two insurance poEcies with Country Mutual Insurance Company (Country Mutual). The Country Mutual insurance poEcies provide a single underinsured motorist coverage Emit of $100,000 per person/$300,000 per occurrence. Richard Martin III was named as an additional insured under both of the poEcies with Country Mutual.

Country Mutual policies define an “underinsured motor vehicle” as:

“[A]ny type of motor vehicle or trailer for which the sum of all liability bonds or policies at the time of an accident are less than the limit of this insurance.”

The Country Mutual policy also contains an “underinsured motorist endorsement,” which states in pertinent part:

“The most we will pay under Under-insured Motorists Coverage, Coverage U, to any one person is the lesser of:
(1) the difference between the ‘each person’ limit of this coverage as shown on the declarations page for this coverage and the amount paid to the insured by or on behalf of persons or organizations who may be legally responsible for the bodily injury caused by an underinsured motor vehicle; or
(2) the difference between the amount of the insured’s damages and the amount paid to the insured by or on behalf of persons or organizations who may be legally responsible for the bodily injury caused by an underinsured motor vehicle.
*** [T]he maximum amount we will pay to all insureds is the difference between the ‘each occurrence’ limit of this coverage as shown on the declarations page and the amount paid to the insured by or on behalf of persons or organizations who may be legally responsible for the bodily injury caused by an underinsured motor vehicle.”

Country Mutual’s limit of liability clause provides as follows:

“The Uninsured-Underinsured Motorists limits of liability shown on the declarations page apply as follows: a. The limit of liability for ‘each person’ is the maximum amount we will pay for all damages arising out of bodily injury to any one person in any one accident. That maximum amount includes any claims of other persons for damages arising out of that bodily injury.
The figure listed is the most we will pay for any one person in any one accident regardless of the number of insureds, claims made, insured vehicles, premiums shown on the declarations page, or uninsured or underinsured motor vehicles involved in the accident ***.”

Following the accident, plaintiff made an appropriate claim and Farmers tendered to plaintiff $100,000, the limit of liability under Richard Martin, Jr.’s policy with Farmers.

On August 17, 1997, plaintiff executed a “Release in Full of All Claims and Rights.” The release provided in pertinent part:

“For and in consideration of the sum of ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ($100,000) DOLLARS, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, I, THERESA MARTIN, Individually and as Special Administrator of the Estate of Richard James, Martin, III, Deceased, release and forever discharge RICHARD MARTIN, JR., his principals, agents, representatives and insurance carriers from any and all rights, claims, demands, and damages of any kind, known or unknown, existing or arising in the future, resulting from or related to personal injuries, death or property damage, arising from an accident that occurred on or about March 7, 1997,

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Martin v. Illinois Farmers Insurance, 742 N.E.2d 848, 252 Ill. Dec. 310, 318 Ill. App. 3d 751, 2000 Ill. App. LEXIS 1012 (Ill. Ct. App. 2000).

742 N.E.2d 848 (Martin v. Illinois Farmers Insurance) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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