Moore v. State Automobile Mutual Insurance

723 N.E.2d 97, 88 Ohio St. 3d 27
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 16, 2000
DocketNo. 98-2495
StatusPublished
Cited by186 cases

This text of 723 N.E.2d 97 (Moore v. State Automobile Mutual Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. State Automobile Mutual Insurance, 723 N.E.2d 97, 88 Ohio St. 3d 27 (Ohio 2000).

Opinions

Douglas, J.

As previously stated, the policy provision at issue herein provides that appellee “will pay compensatory damages which an ‘insured’ is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an ‘uninsured motor vehicle’ because of ‘bodily injury’: 1. Sustained by an ‘insured’; and 2. Caused by an accident.” This language, in effect, limits uninsured motorist coverage to accidents in which an insured sustains bodily injury.

Appellant, relying on our decision in Sexton,3 contends that this limitation is not valid because it results in less than the minimum amount , of uninsured motorist coverage mandated by R.C. 3937.18(A). The facts of Sexton are essentially identical to those in the case at bar. In Sexton, Gareld Sexton’s daughter was killed in an automobile accident caused by an uninsured motorist. Sexton sought to recover his damages arising out of the death of his daughter under the uninsured motorist provision of his insurance policy. However, because Sexton’s daughter was not an insured as defined by the policy, the insurer denied the claim, relying on a policy provision requiring that an insured sustain bodily injury. The court looked to R.C. 3937.18 to determine whether this limitation on uninsured motorist coverage was valid.

The version of R.C. 3937.18(A) that applied in Sexton provided that “[n]o automobile liability * * * policy of insurance * * * shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state * * * unless an equivalent amount of coverage for bodily injury or death is provided therein * * * for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness,’ or disease, including death, resulting therefrom.” 138 Ohio Laws, Part 1,1458.

The Sexton court noted that R.C. 3937.18 did not specify that an insured must sustain bodily injury in order to recover damages. Accordingly, the court held that the policy’s restrictions allowing recovery only when an insured suffered bodily injury were “void because they attempted] to limit recovery contrary to R.C. 3937.18.” Sexton v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 69 Ohio St.2d at 437, 23 O.O.3d at 389, 433 N.E.2d at 560. Clearly, if Sexton is still the law in this state, then appellee’s policy limitation in this case is invalid.

[30]*30However, subsequent to the Sexton decision, the General Assembly, in Am.Sub. S.B. No. 20, amended R.C. 3937.18.4 We must therefore determine whether those amendments altered the meaning of R.C. 3937.18 in such a way as to permit insurers to limit uninsured motorist coverage to accidents in which an insured sustains bodily injury.

The version of R.C. 3937.18 at issue provides:

“(A) No automobile liability * * * policy of insurance * * * shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state * * * unless both of the following coverages are provided to persons insured under the policy for loss due to bodily injury or death suffered by such persons:

“(1) Uninsured motorist coverage, which * * * shall provide protection for bodily injury or death * * * for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death, suffered by any person insured under the policy.” 145 Ohio Laws, Part I, 204, 210.

Appellee contends that the plain language of the statute invalidates our decision in Sexton. In this regard, appellee asserts that R.C. 3937.18(A), enacted as part of Am.Sub.S.B. No. 20, permits insurers to limit uninsured motorist coverage, in their policies of insurance, to automobile accidents in which an insured sustains bodily injury. Appellee’s contention is based on the statutory phrases “suffered by such persons” and “suffered by any person insured under the policy” as they relate to the phrase “bodily injury [sickness or disease] or death.” Appellee assumes that these phrases allow insurers to require that an insured under a policy of insurance suffer bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death in order for there to be coverage.

Appellant, on the other hand, contends that the statute does not permit insurers to limit uninsured motorist coverage to automobile accidents in which an insured suffers bodily injury. Appellant’s conclusion is based on her belief that the phrase “suffered by such persons” found in section (A) of R.C. 3937.18 refers [31]*31to “loss” and the phrase “suffered by any person insured under the policy” found in subsection (A)(1) refers to “damages.” Neither phrase, appellant claims, refers to “bodily injury.” Hence, appellant contends that the court’s interpretation of R.C. 3937.18 in Sexton was not altered by Am.Sub.S.B. No. 20 and is still good law. Accordingly, appellant urges us to find that appellee’s policy limitation requiring that an insured suffer bodily injury in order to recover damages provides less coverage than is mandated by R.C. 3937.18(A) and is therefore invalid.

We find that R.C. 3937.18(A) is ambiguous regarding whether an insurer may limit uninsured motorist coverage to accidents in which an insured sustains bodily injury. Thus, we must determine the intent of the legislature in enacting R.C. 3937.18(A) and construe the statute in a manner that reflects that intent. Cochrel v. Robinson (1925), 113 Ohio St. 526, 149 N.E. 871, paragraph four of the syllabus. R.C. 1.49 mandates that we consider both the objective of the statute and the consequences of any particular construction in determining the intention of the legislature. For the following reasons, we find that the General Assembly did not intend the amendments to R.C. 3937.18(A) contained within Am.Sub.S.B. No. 20 to supersede the court’s ruling in Sexton.

Initially we note that R.C. 3937.18 is remedial legislation. Stanton v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. (1993), 68 Ohio St.3d 111, 113, 623 N.E.2d 1197, 1199. Therefore, it must be liberally construed to give effect to the legislative purpose. R.C. 1.11; Curran v. State Auto. Mut. Ins. Co. (1971), 25 Ohio St.2d 33, 38, 54 O.O.2d 166, 169, 266 N.E.2d 566, 569; Martin v. Midwestern Group Ins. Co., 70 Ohio St.3d at 480, 639 N.E.2d at 440.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
723 N.E.2d 97, 88 Ohio St. 3d 27, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-state-automobile-mutual-insurance-ohio-2000.