Pennington v. American Family Insurance Group

626 N.E.2d 461, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 1572, 1993 WL 533681
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 28, 1993
Docket10A01-9302-CV-54
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 626 N.E.2d 461 (Pennington v. American Family Insurance Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennington v. American Family Insurance Group, 626 N.E.2d 461, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 1572, 1993 WL 533681 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

NAJAM, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment in favor of American Family Insurance Group (“American Family”) and against Ava Pennington (“Pennington”) in a declaratory judgment action to determine whether Indiana law applied to underinsured motorist coverage in two American Family automobile policies issued to Pennington (“Policies”). Pennington, an Indiana resident, demanded payment of her policy limits from American Family after she sustained personal injuries in an automobile accident which occurred in Kentucky. She maintained that Kentucky law applied to her claim and allowed stacking of her underinsured coverages under the Policies.

We affirm.

ISSUES

We restate and consolidate the issues presented as:

1. Whether an out-of-state insurance clause in the liability portion of the Policies applies to Pennington’s claim for underin-sured motorist coverage under the Policies.

2. Whether, under Indiana’s choice-of-law rule for contracts, Indiana or Kentucky law applies to Pennington’s claim.

FACTS

Pennington sustained personal injuries in an automobile accident in Louisville, Kentucky, while driving her employer’s delivery truck. Pennington subsequently recovered $50,000.00 from the other driver’s insurer and $60,000.00 from her employer’s insurer. Pennington asserted that Kentucky law applied to her claim and allowed her to stack her coverage under the under-insured motorist provisions of her Policies with American Family. Thus, she demanded recovery of an additional $50,000.00 from American Family.

American Family filed a declaratory judgment action against Pennington, and named her husband, her employer, her employer’s insurer, and the other driver as defendants. American Family sought a determination that Indiana law applied to deny Pennington coverage under both the anti-stacking and set-off provisions in its Policies. Pennington then filed a counterclaim seeking a determination that Kentucky law applied and permitted her to stack her underinsured motorist coverage under the Policies. 1

American Family moved for summary judgment, the trial court granted the motion and entered judgment for American Family, and Pennington appeals from that judgment. We will state additional facts as needed.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Standard of Review

The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law in its judgment granting American Family’s motion for summary judgment. We are not bound by those findings and conclusions, but in our review we make the same inquiry as the trial court. Billingsly v. Brown (1991), Ind.App., 569 N.E.2d 687, 688. We may affirm a summary judgment when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.; Ind.Trial Rule 56(C). We only consider the evidentiary matter designated by the parties to the trial court, and all facts and inferences from that evidence must be liberally construed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id.

Summary judgment based upon construction of an insurance contract is a determination, as a matter of law, that the contract is unambiguous and that it is un *464 necessary to resort to the rules of contract construction in order to ascertain the contract’s meaning. Meridian Mutual Insurance Co. v. Cox (1989), Ind.App., 541 N.E.2d 959, 961, trans. denied. An unambiguous policy must be enforced according to its terms, even those terms which limit the insurer’s liability. Trisler v. Indiana Insurance Co. (1991), Ind.App., 575 N.E.2d 1021, 1023. A mere disagreement between the parties to the insurance contract over the meaning of the contract does not establish an ambiguity. Cox, 541 N.E.2d at 961. The provisions of an insurance contract are subject to the same rules of construction as are other contracts, and the construction of a written contract is a question of law for which summary judgment is particularly appropriate. Id.; Trisler, 575 N.E.2d at 1023.

Issue One: Contract Construction

Pennington asserts that because her accident occurred in Kentucky, Kentucky law applies to her claim for coverage under the underinsured motorists coverage endorsement to the Policies. 2 She relies specifically upon the following clause in the Policies:

“OUT OF STATE INSURANCE
This policy conforms to any motor vehicle insurance law to which an insured person becomes subject by using a car in any state. But, any broader coverage so afforded shall be reduced to the extent that other auto liability insurance applies. No person may, in any event, collect more than once for the same elements of loss.”

Record at 13. Pennington claims that this clause, which is set out in a section of the Policies denominated “Part I — Liability,” applies to the entire contract, including the underinsured motorists coverage provisions. She argues alternatively that the application of this clause to the Policies’ underinsured coverage is ambiguous and that any ambiguity should be construed in her favor.

American Family responds that the out-of-state insurance clause is unambiguous, and under established rules of contract construction, the clause only applies to the liability coverage portion of the Policies, not the underinsurance coverage endorsement. We conclude that the out-of-state insurance clause only applies to liability coverage under the Policies and not to Pennington’s underinsured motorists coverage.

In determining whether a contract is ambiguous, we may not consider individual clauses without reference to the whole instrument. 100 Center Development Co. v. Hacienda Mexican Restaurant, Inc. (1989), Ind.App., 546 N.E.2d 1256, 1258. Even when an ambiguity is apparent, the instrument is not considered ambiguous until the four corners of the instrument have been searched to determine if the parties’ intent can be ascertained. Id. We must strive to harmonize all of a contract’s provisions and not concentrate upon some clause or language taken out of context. Keystone Square Shopping Center Co. v. Marsh Supermarkets, Inc. (1984), Ind. App., 459 N.E.2d 420, 422-24, trans. denied.

Here, in its proper context, the out-of-state insurance clause contained in “Part I — Liability” applies only to liability coverage under the Policies. That conclusion is supported by reference to the overall structure of the Policies.

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Bluebook (online)
626 N.E.2d 461, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 1572, 1993 WL 533681, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennington-v-american-family-insurance-group-indctapp-1993.