Pepper v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

806 N.W.2d 94, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 83, 2011 WL 2623445
Court of Appeals of Minnesota·Decided June 28, 2011·No. No. A10-2090·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

OPINION

CRIPPEN, Judge.*

Appellant Tammy Pepper disputes the district court’s summary judgment dismissing her claim for UIM benefits under a policy issued by respondent State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). Pepper was injured when she was struck by a pickup truck owned and insured by her sister, Tracie Drew, but driven by State Farm’s policyholder, Frank Matlachowski, who is Pepper’s stepfather. Concluding that the State Farm policy wrongfully excludes UIM coverage for Pepper’s claim of benefits from Matla-chowski’s policy, based on the inadequacy of Drew’s liability coverage, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

Appellant lives with her stepfather, Mat-lachowski; for purposes of its grant of summary judgment, the district court assumed that appellant is a covered insured under the two auto insurance policies [96] owned by Matlachowski. Drew, the owner of the truck, was insured separately. Mat-lachowski was backing Drew’s truck out of his driveway when the accelerator stuck in an open position. Pepper, who was standing in the driveway, was pushed against a wall, suffering severe injuries.

Drew’s policy paid out its liability limit of $100,000, based on the recognition that Drew was primarily at fault for the accident because of poor maintenance of the truck. Matlachowski owned two policies, which covered his liability for vehicles owned or driven by him. Pepper recovered $100,000 under the liability coverage of one of these policies. Because this did not fully compensate her for her damages, Pepper sought UIM benefits from the second policy held by Matlachowski, alleging that Drew was primarily at fault for the accident and that Drew was underinsured.

The State Farm policy that includes the UIM benefits claimed by Pepper extends liability coverage for Matlachowski’s “use ... of a newly acquired car, a temporary substitute car or a non-owned car.” Under the terms of the policy, Drew’s truck was a “non-owned car.” The policy excludes from coverage for UIM benefits any vehicle “insured under the liability coverage of this policy.” Based on these terms, Matlachowski was driving a car insured for his liability under the policy, and therefore the car was excluded from coverage for UIM benefits.

The issue before us turns on whether this exclusion wrongfully denies benefits statutorily required by Minn.Stat. §§ 65B.41~.71 (2010), the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act (no-fault statute). The district court based its summary judgment decision on precedent establishing that the statute requires UIM coverage when a third party is at fault for the operation of a second vehicle, but denied Pepper’s claim because there is no existing authority addressing whether coverage is required when a third-party tort-feasor owns but is not operating the vehicle used by the UIM policyholder.

ISSUE

Did the district court err in denying UIM benefits when a second tortfeasor owns the underinsured vehicle but the driver is insured for his own liability by the UIM insurer?

ANALYSIS

1. Review Standards

On appeal from summary judgment, we review de novo whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court erred in its application of the law. STAR Ctrs., Inc. v. Faegre & Benson, L.L.P., 644 N.W.2d 72, 76-77 (Minn.2002). “[Sjummary judgment will be affirmed if it can be sustained on any ground.” Jane Doe ISC v. Diocese of New Ulm, 787 N.W.2d 680, 686 (Minn.App.2010). “When the district court grants summary judgment based on the application of a statute to undisputed facts, the result is a legal conclusion that we review de novo.” Weston v. McWilliams & As-socs:, Inc., 716 N.W.2d 634, 638 (Minn. 2006).

2. Coverage Conversion

Because we conclude that the circumstances of this case do not involve conversion of coverage purchased by the policyholder, coverage is required by law.

An insurer’s liability is generally determined by the insurance contract, “as long as the policy does not omit coverage required by law and does not violate applicable statutes.” Lynch v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 626 N.W.2d 182, 185 (Minn.2001) (citations omitted). Minnesota law permits an insurer to deny coverage for [97] UIM benefits when the insured’s claim for benefits results in coverage conversion. Mitsch v. Am. Nat’l Prop. & Cas. Co., 736 N.W.2d 355, 358 (Minn.App.2007), review denied (Minn. Oct. 24, 2007). “Coverage conversion occurs when less expensive first-party UIM coverage is used as a substitute for more expensive third-party liability coverage.” Id.

In its approach to coverage-conversion law, the Lynch court discussed precedents upholding UIM exclusions in coverage-conversion circumstances, where an insured attempted “to provide greater protection from his own negligence” than he purchased in the form of liability coverage. 626 N.W.2d. at 187 (quoting Meyer v. III. Farmers Ins. Group, 371 N.W.2d 535, 537 (Minn.1985)).1

An insurer is permitted to “write and enforce any exclusion that precludes ... coverage conversion.” Lynch, 626 N.W.2d at 189; see also Meyer, 371 N.W.2d at 537; Myers v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 336 N.W.2d 288, 292 (Minn.1983). In Meyer, UIM coverage was implied because the insurer failed to offer coverage, and the supreme court emphasized that even without express policy language, the implied UIM coverage could not be converted to supplement liability coverage when the injury occurred as the result of a single-car accident in which the policyholder was both owner and driver. 371 N.W.2d at 536-37. None of the cases discussing coverage conversion have directly addressed whether an overly broad exclusion might wrongfully omit coverage required by the no-fault statute, when the factual circumstances do not demonstrate an instance of coverage conversion by the insured.

3. Multiple Tortfeasors

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Pepper v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 806 N.W.2d 94, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 83, 2011 WL 2623445 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

806 N.W.2d 94 (Pepper v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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