O'ROURKE v. Colonial Ins. Co.

624 So. 2d 84, 1993 WL 333628
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 2, 1993
Docket91-CA-169
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 624 So. 2d 84 (O'ROURKE v. Colonial Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'ROURKE v. Colonial Ins. Co., 624 So. 2d 84, 1993 WL 333628 (Mich. 1993).

Opinion

624 So.2d 84 (1993)

Betty L. O'ROURKE and Daniel O'Rourke
v.
COLONIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA.

No. 91-CA-169.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 2, 1993.

Dana J. Swan, Chapman Lewis & Swan, Clarksdale, for appellant.

Marc A. Biggers, Upshaw Williams Biggers Page & Kruger, Lonnie D. Bailey, Upshaw William Firm, Greenwood, for appellees.

Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., PITTMAN and JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., JJ.

JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., Justice, for the Court:

The O'Rourkes, residents of Tennessee, were involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist ("UM") on April 29, 1988 in DeSoto County. The 1988 Oldsmobile they were driving was insured by State Farm, with UM coverage of $50,000/$100,000. The O'Rourkes also owned a 1981 Toyota, insured by Colonial with UM coverage of $100,000/$300,000. The Colonial policy did not cover the Oldsmobile and contained an "owned vehicle exclusion clause," providing that coverage did not extend to persons injured in a vehicle owned by the insured but not protected by the Colonial policy. The O'Rourkes brought suit in the DeSoto County Circuit Court against both State Farm and Colonial. Colonial moved for summary judgment, on the grounds that under Mississippi conflict of law rules, Tennessee law applied to the question of whether coverage was available to the O'Rourkes under the Colonial policy, and under Tennessee law, Colonial was entitled to dismissal. The court granted summary judgment for Colonial, and the O'Rourkes appealed. Finding that Colonial was correctly dismissed from the suit, we affirm.

*85 A

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 29, 1990, Betty and Daniel O'Rourke were returning home to Memphis after dining at the Conestoga steakhouse in DeSoto County. Driving north on Highway 51, they were involved in a collision with DeSoto County resident Angela Worley, who proved to be an uninsured motorist. Both O'Rourkes were injured and taken to Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis.

At the time of the accident, Betty O'Rourke was driving a 1988 Oldsmobile which she and her husband owned jointly. The Oldsmobile was insured by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company with a policy that provided UM coverage of $50,000/$100,000 and medical payment benefits.[1] The O'Rourkes also possessed a 1981 Toyota, insured by Colonial Insurance Company, by a policy which provided for coverage of $100,000/$300,000.[2] Daniel O'Rourke paid the premiums for the Colonial policy either through the Morton Insurance Agency, Inc., located in Bartlett, Tennessee, or directly to Colonial at its Norcross, Georgia office.

The Colonial policy included an "owned vehicle exclusion clause," which read in part:

Those Not Protected
* * * * * *
Anyone occupying a motor vehicle owned by you or furnished for your regular use and not insured under this insurance is not protected by this insurance.

(emphasis in the original).

On March 13, 1990, the O'Rourkes filed a complaint in the DeSoto County Circuit Court against State Farm and Colonial, alleging that Worley's negligence (failing to yield the right of way at an intersection) had been the proximate cause of the accident. They demanded judgments of $200,000 in UM benefits for Betty O'Rourke, and $200,000 in UM benefits, together with medical payment benefits for Daniel O'Rourke. Colonial moved for summary judgment on December 3, 1990, claiming that the issue of whether uninsured motorist coverage was available to the O'Rourkes under the Colonial policy was governed by Tennessee law, and that under Tennessee law, Colonial was entitled to dismissal. The circuit judge held that under Boardman v. United States Automobile Association, 470 So.2d 1024 (Miss. 1985), cert. den. 474 U.S. 980, 106 S.Ct. 384, 88 L.Ed.2d 337 (1985), the court was bound to apply the "center of gravity" test to determine whether Mississippi or Tennessee law would apply. Finding the Tennessee contacts greater, the court applied Tennessee law, under which the owned vehicle exclusion clause was valid, and the O'Rourkes not entitled to recover from Colonial. The court granted summary judgment for Colonial, and dismissed the cause with prejudice on January 22, 1991. The O'Rourkes filed an appeal on February 15, 1991.

B

DISCUSSION OF ISSUE

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN HOLDING THAT TENNESSEE LAW, RATHER THAN MISSISSIPPI LAW, CONTROLS STACKING OF UNINSURED MOTORIST POLICIES FOR AN ACCIDENT IN MISSISSIPPI INVOLVING A TENNESSEE POLICY ISSUED TO A TENNESSEE RESIDENT.

Conflict of Law

The effect of the owned vehicle exclusion clause in the policy on the Toyota is to bar recovery under the Colonial policy, or, as the O'Rourkes put it, to prevent "stacking" of the Colonial and State Farm policies. The O'Rourkes concede that under Tennessee law, the owned vehicle exclusion clause is valid and enforceable. See Dockins v. Balboa Ins. Co., 764 S.W.2d 529 (Tenn. App. 1989); Graves v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Ins. Co., 671 S.W.2d 841 (Tenn. App. 1984). They also concede that under Boardman v. *86 United States Auto. Assn., 470 So.2d 1024 (Miss. 1985), Tennessee's substantive law "would control most aspects of this case." However, the O'Rourkes argue that the Mississippi courts will not apply the law of foreign jurisdictions if to do so would be contrary to the public policy of Mississippi. They contend that Mississippi public policy strongly favors stacking of uninsured motorist policies, and that owned vehicle exclusion clauses are unenforceable under Mississippi law. See Lowery v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 285 So.2d 767 (Miss. 1973). Therefore, where there is a conflict of law, and Tennessee law would prohibit stacking of UM coverage, the Court should decline to apply it, and apply Mississippi law instead.

Colonial argues that where a conflict of law arises, Mississippi courts apply the "center of gravity" test to determine which state's law applies. In this case, application of the test shows that Tennessee's contacts prevail; therefore, Tennessee law should be applied to the case's substantive issues. The owned vehicle exclusion clause in the Colonial policy is valid and enforceable under Tennessee law, and, Colonial contends, nothing in Mississippi's public policy concerning UM law is "so deeply ingrained ... as to compel this Court to ignore Tennessee law." Colonial also argues that this case is directly controlled by Boardman v. United States Auto. Assn., an action to recover UM benefits under an automobile insurance policy containing an owned vehicle exclusionary clause, issued in Nebraska to a Nebraska insured, for an accident occurring in Mississippi. In Boardman, the Court applied the center of gravity test, found that Nebraska had the most significant contacts, and applied Nebraska law to the outcome-determinitive question of whether the insured's son was covered by the policy. The Court also held that Mississippi's public policy was not so strong as to override the reasonable expectation of the parties that Nebraska law would apply to the insurance contract.

Colonial is, in a word, correct. Boardman controls, and Tennessee law applies.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
624 So. 2d 84, 1993 WL 333628, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orourke-v-colonial-ins-co-miss-1993.