Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance v. Commonwealth

537 A.2d 53, 113 Pa. Commw. 150, 1988 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 73
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 28, 1988
DocketAppeal, No. 3190 C.D. 1986
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 537 A.2d 53 (Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance v. Commonwealth, 537 A.2d 53, 113 Pa. Commw. 150, 1988 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 73 (Pa. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Colins,

Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance Company (Metropolitan) petitions for review of an order of the Insurance Commissioner (Commissioner) which found Metropolitans rescission of the homeowners in-: surance policy of Edgar Miller (Miller) to be in violation of Section 5(a)(9) of the Unfair Insurance Practices Act (Act or Act 205),1 and ordered the reinstatement. of Millers homeowners policy.

In October of 1984, Miller contacted a sales agent at Metropolitan about obtaining a homeowners insurance policy. A meeting was held with the agent at Millers home in Ruffsdale, Pennsylvania, and on November 26, 1984, Miller visited Metropolitans offices and completed an application for homeowners insurance. This application was completed by the agent based upon information supplied by Miller. In completing the application, the agent inquired if Miller had had any losses during the past five (5) years and if so, the loss date, time and amount. Miller advised the agent that he had not had any losses in the past five years and the application was so marked. Thereafter, Miller signed the completed application indicating that the statements contained thereon- were correct and paid Metropolitan a premium of $438.00. for the policy.

On December 5, 1984, Metropolitan, in accordance with established procedures, made a “spot check” call to Miller to verily the information contained on the application concerning prior losses. Miller indicated that he had suffered a fire loss of $2000.00 when a shed on his Ruffsdale property burned down. Accordingly, Metropolitan changed the response on the application regarding losses from “no” to “yes” and listed the loss date, [152]*152type and amount. Under Metropolitans underwriting rules, the loss described by Miller was not material to Metropolitans acceptance of the risk insured. Millers homeowners policy with Metropolitan became effective on December 18, 1984.

In May, 1985, Miller submitted a claim for fire loss as a result of damages to an out-building with an estimated loss of $8000.00. In conducting a claims investigation of this incident, Metropolitan discovered that Miller had falsely reported that he had not had any losses in the previous five (5) years. Metropolitan learned that Miller had experienced three previous fire losses under his prior homeowners policy. Miller filed claims for fire losses in December, 1982 for an estimated loss of $3500.00; a claim in July, 1984 for a loss in excess, of $3800.00; and a claim in August, 1984 for a loss in excess of $10,000.00. These prior fire losses were material to acceptance of the risk under Metropolitans underwriting standards.

Metropolitan notified Miller by letter dated November 1, 1985 that his homeowners policy was rescinded effective December 18, 1984, Le. ab initio. This notice failed to advise Miller: of any procedures to be followed in prosecuting an appeal; of a right to request a review of Metropolitans action by the Commissioner; of his possible eligibility of insurance from the Fair Plan; or of a day on which the termination of his homeowners policy would be effective not less than thirty (30) days from the notices date of delivery or mailing.

Miller requested review by the Insurance Department (Department) to determine whether Metropol1 itans rescission of the policy was in compliance with Act 205.' The Department conducted an investigation and determined that Metropolitan was, in fact, in violation of Act 205 by rescinding coverage ab initio. Metropolitan requested a formal administrative hearing on the [153]*153matter which was held on June 10, 1986. Thereafter, the Commissioner issued his order and adjudication which affirmed the decision of the Department. Metropolitan petitions for review of that order.

The decision of the Commissioner was based upon his conclusion that Act 205 provides the exclusive means by which an insurer may terminate a homeowners insurance policy which has been in effect for more than sixty (60) days, superseding all other methods of termination. Because Act 205 is silent with regard to rescission of a homeowners policy, the Commissioner concluded that Metropolitan had violated the Act by improperly rescinding Millers policy. Therefore, the Commissioner ordered Metropolitan to cease and desist from rescinding Millers policy and to reinstate the policy. The issue before this Court is whether Act 205 supersedes all methods of'termination of homeowners insurance not contained in the Act.

This Court addressed a similar issue with respect to an insurers rescission of an automobile insurance policy in its recent decision in Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance Company v. Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, 97 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 219, 509 A.2d 1346 (1986), affirmed in a plurality opinion by our Supreme Court at Pa. , 535 A.2d 588 (1987). An examination of the sound reasoning applied in our decision in that case will aid in our analysis of the issue at hand.

In Metropolitan, we held that the General Assembly, in enacting what is commonly known as Act 78,2 intended that it supersede all common law rights and [154]*154remedies and that, therefore, the insurer was able to terminate an automobile insurance policy solely by the means provided under that- statute. In reaching this conclusion, we noted that Act 78 was void of explicit language which indicated that the statute was meant to supersede the common law or previous statutory methods of termination.

Such is the case with Act 205, which is before the scrutiny of this Court today.- It contains no specific lam guage indicating that all common law or previous statutory remedies of termination are superseded by the Act. Therefore, as in Metropolitan, we must, where the language of the statute is not explicit, ascertain and effectuate the intention of the General Assembly by applying our rules of statutory construction. See Section 1921(a) of the Statutory Construction Act of 1972, 1 Pa. C. S. § 1921(a). In ascertaining this intent, we may consider, among other things:

. (1) The occasion and necessity for the statute.
. (2) The circumstances under which it was enacted.
(3) The mischief to be remedied.
(4) The object to be attained.
(5) The former law, if any, including other statutes upon the same or similar subjects.
(6) The consequences of a particular interpretation.
(7) The contemporaneous legislative history.
(8) Legislative and administrative interpretations of such statute.

1 Pa. C. S. §1921(c).

The Commissioner, in the discussion portion of his Order and Adjudication found that:

Clearly the Act represents a comprehensive effort by the Legislature to restrict unfair or [155]

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Related

Metropolitan Property & Liability Insurance v. Insurance Commissioner
580 A.2d 300 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Erie Insurance v. Foster
560 A.2d 856 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)
Klopp v. Keystone Insurance Companies
549 A.2d 221 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)

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537 A.2d 53, 113 Pa. Commw. 150, 1988 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 73, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/metropolitan-property-liability-insurance-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-1988.