Pennland Insurance v. Thomas

35 Pa. D. & C.4th 212, 1997 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 113, 34 Phila. 398, 1997 Phila. Cty. Rptr. LEXIS 85
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedOctober 27, 1997
Docketno. 1579
StatusPublished

This text of 35 Pa. D. & C.4th 212 (Pennland Insurance v. Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennland Insurance v. Thomas, 35 Pa. D. & C.4th 212, 1997 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 113, 34 Phila. 398, 1997 Phila. Cty. Rptr. LEXIS 85 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1997).

Opinion

DiNUBILE, JR., J.,

The instant proceeding had been submitted to the Honorable Berel Caesar for resolution on the briefs and pleadings. He is the author of this opinion. Due to his untimely death prior to its issuance, the undersigned, as supervising judge of the Complex Litigation Center, joins in this opinion and signs it on behalf of Judge Caesar as well.

The dispute involves a claim by a motorcyclist who seeks underinsured motorist benefits under an automobile insurance policy covering two other vehicles owned by him.

The facts are undisputed. The claimant, George Thomas, was the owner and operator of a 1991 Suzuki motorcycle when he sustained injuries from an accident with a vehicle operated by Ruth E. Rosenblatt in Sommerdale, New Jersey. After receiving Ms. Rosenblatt’s policy limits of $25,000 for bodily injury, Mr. Thomas sought underinsured motorist coverage from a policy that he held with Pennland Insurance Company on two other vehicles that he owned. Pennland Insurance Company denied the plaintiff’s claim for benefits and brought an action for declaratory relief on the ground that coverage did not exist under the insurance policy at issue.

[214]*214In support of its position, Pennland cited the underinsured motorist endorsement in its policy covering the two other vehicles which specifically limits underinsured coverage to only those vehicles, providing:

“We do not provide underinsured motorist coverage for bodily injury sustained:

“(1) by you while occupying, or when struck by, any motor vehicle you own which is not insured for coverage under this policy. . . .”

Pennland first argues that since the claimant’s motorcycle qualifies under the definition of a motor vehicle and is not identified as an insured vehicle under the policy, the claimant is not entitled to any underinsured benefits.

Pennland further argues that since the claimant purposely elected not to purchase higher premium under-insured motorist coverage on the motorcycle, he should not be permitted to claim such coverage through policies on other vehicles. As posited by Pennland, to do so would enable the claimant to receive coverage on the motorcycle without tendering a premium. In advancing this argument, Pennland points to the distinctions in coverage risk between motorcycles and automobiles.

The claimant, George Thomas, on the other hand, argues that the exclusion is inapplicable to his particular claim since he was operating a motorcycle. Thomas adopts a position contrary to that of Pennland, asserting that a motorcycle does not qualify as a motor vehicle under the exclusionary endorsement and that he therefore is covered under the policy. Thomas further asserts that the exclusion is unlawful and against public policy.

The claimant’s brief is cursory involving no citation to any applicable authority. Pennland Insurance Company’s brief does address the issues presented, but over[215]*215looks case law directly on point. The court agrees with Pennland’s position and finds that no underinsured motorist benefits are provided for the injuries sustained by the claimant while operating his motorcycle.

The court finds that Thomas’ argument that the motorcycle does not qualify as a motor vehicle under the exclusion is entirely unsupported. By its plain definition, the word motor vehicle is inclusive of motorcycles. See The American Heritage Dictionary at 447 (Second College Ed., Houghton Mifflin Company 1983) (expansively defining motor vehicle as “Any self-propelled motor-powered vehicle that travels on wheels but does not run on rails.”). The claimant fails to point to any definitions or statements in the insurance policy to suggest otherwise.

The claimant’s reliance on provisions in the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, 75 Pa.C.S. §1701 et seq., which distinguish motorcycles from other vehicles, in support of his coverage argument is misplaced. Although these provisions make distinctions applicable to motorcycles, none of these distinctions are based upon the plaintiff’s theory that a motorcycle is not a motor vehicle. Rather, the import of these provisions is to relieve insurance companies of being required to provide insurance benefits otherwise required for vehicles on account of the increased risks associated with motorcycles. See 75 Pa.C.S. §1711 (insurers not required to provide medical benefits, income loss benefits, accidental death benefits, funeral benefits, and extraordinary medical benefits for motorcyclists); see also, 75 Pa.C.S. §1714 (precluding motorcyclists from recovering first party benefits). Thus, the specific provisions to which reference is made, actually stand in opposition to the argument asserted by Thomas that an insurance policy on two cars must cover a motorcycle.' [216]*216Furthermore, the fact that a motorcycle falls within the category of a motor vehicle under the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law may be inferred based upon the wording of section 1712 which encompasses the availability of benefits. As provided therein:

“An insurer issuing or delivering liability insurance policies covering any motor vehicle of the type required to be registered under this title, except. . . motorcycles ... registered and operated in this Commonwealth, shall make available for purchase first party benefits. . . .”

In addition, motorcycles have been classified as motor vehicles in the context of cases considering coverage requirements promulgated under section 1711 of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law. See Green v. K&K Insurance Co., 389 Pa. Super. 73, 75, 566 A.2d 622, 623 (1989) (court held that “Pursuant to this section, insurers of motorcycles are not required to provide the first party benefits that insurers of other motor vehicles must provide.”), (emphasis added). Finally, this issue was confronted directly in a 1930 case which examined the laws then in effect. There, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that “ ‘motor vehicle’ as a generic term, includes all classes of self-propelled vehicles (42 C. J. 609), and so would embrace a motorcycle, . . .” Deardorff v. Continental Life Insurance Co., 301 Pa. 179, 151 A. 814 (1930).

The claimant also advances the argument that this exclusionary provision is contrary to public policy. His rationale is misplaced. The court finds the exclusionary provision to be wholly in accord with public policy and to be lawful. In reaching this conclusion, we are guided by the disposition of Maney v. Lloyd, 430 Pa. Super. 441, 634 A.2d 1139 (1993), in which the Superior Court enforced an exclusionary clause effectively limiting excess insurance coverage only to those specific [217]*217vehicles denoted in an insurance policy. Money involved an action for declaratory relief instituted in order to receive excess coverage under an insurance policy held by a tort-feasor’s stepfather. Coverage was excluded on the ground that the stepson’s vehicle did not qualify as a “covered vehicle” under the stepfather’s insurance policy. Conferring authority upon insurers to limit the scope of underinsured motorist coverage to vehicles covered under the policy, the court, in Money,

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Bluebook (online)
35 Pa. D. & C.4th 212, 1997 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 113, 34 Phila. 398, 1997 Phila. Cty. Rptr. LEXIS 85, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennland-insurance-v-thomas-pactcomplphilad-1997.