Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance v. Barerra

21 P.3d 395, 200 Ariz. 9, 345 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 25, 2001 Ariz. LEXIS 56
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedApril 16, 2001
DocketCV-99-0388-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 21 P.3d 395 (Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance v. Barerra) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance v. Barerra, 21 P.3d 395, 200 Ariz. 9, 345 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 25, 2001 Ariz. LEXIS 56 (Ark. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

FELDMAN, Justice.

¶ 1 In this declaratory judgment action, we are asked to review a court of appeals opinion affirming the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company (Philadelphia). Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co. v. Barerra, 196 Ariz. 391, 998 P.2d 1064 (App.1999). We granted review to determine the validity of a driving-under-the-influence (DUI) exclusion from the insurance coverage obtained as part of a car rental transaction. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Constitution article 6, § 5.3 and A.R.S. § 12-120.24.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Philadelphia. Therefore, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Petitioners. Martinez v. Woodmar IV Condominiums Homeowners Ass’n, Inc., 189 Ariz. 206, 211, 941 P.2d 218, 223 (1997).

¶ 3 On April 22, 1993, Juan Eduardo Quintero-Lopez rented a car from Value Rent-A-Car (Value) for a one-week period. This rental was one in a series of at least eight weekly leases that Quintero-Lopez had made with Value since late February 1993. As was his habit for all of the previous rentals, Quintero-Lopez purchased both the “Loss Damage Waiver” (LDW) and “Supplemental Liability Insurance” (SLI) optional insurance coverages offered by Value at a rate of $9.95 and $5.95 a day, respectively. 1 This additional insurance, underwritten by Philadelphia, increased the basic minimum liability insurance limits required by A.R.S. § 28-2166.B and provided by Value as part of its rental agreement.

¶4 To obtain his rental car, Quintero-Lopez signed the front side of Value’s two-sided rental agreement, which on the first page includes boxes where a renter must either decline or accept the LDW and SLI coverages. See Appendix A(l). When actually purchasing the optional insurance coverages, however, Quintero-Lopez was asked to both initial and sign a one-page “Optional Services & Equipment” addendum to the rental contract. See Appendix B. To help sell the options, Value provided Quintero-Lopez with a colorful, tri-fold brochure titled “Relax You’re On a Value Vacation” summarily explaining the SLI coverage he purchased. See Appendix C. In response to its own queiy of ‘What exactly does supplemental liability insurance cover?” the brochure explains:

SLI provides you with up to a maximum of $1 million of liability protection. Say you run a red light while driving on unfamiliar roads during your vacation, and hit another car with your rental car. In the event of a lawsuit, SLI covers damage to the other (the claimant’s) ear, their medical costs, and their personal and property damage up to a maximum $1 million.

The additional SLI coverage issued by Philadelphia and accepted by Quintero-Lopez has policy limits equal to the difference between the $15,000/$30,000 statutory minimum limits provided by Value and $1,000,000.

¶ 5 The next day, Quintero-Lopez was driving the rented vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and was involved in a collision that injured one of his passengers, Pedro Huerta, and killed the other, Melvin Sanchez. Huerta’s parents, on behalf of their minor son, 2 and Ana Barerra, Sanchez’s mother, individually and on behalf of her son’s estate, sued Quintero-Lopez in an at *12 tempt to recover for the injury and death. In that action, a judgment was entered against Quintero-Lopez in which Huerta was awarded $435,000 for injuries and Barerra $270,000 for the wrongful death of Sanchez. Value tendered its limits of $30,000, but Philadelphia denied coverage. Huerta, Barerra, and Quintero-Lopez then entered into a Morris agreement in which Quintero-Lopez assigned all of his claims against Philadelphia to Huerta and Barerra. 3

¶ 6 In June 1995, Philadelphia filed a declaratory action against Ana Barerra, Pedro Huerta, Mario and Lucia Huerta, and Juan and Michelle Quintero-Lopez (Petitioners), seeking a ruling that it was not required to satisfy any judgment arising out of the accident because, according to Philadelphia, Quintero-Lopez voided the additional SLI coverage he purchased from Value by breaching a provision of the rental agreement that prohibited driving under the influence. Petitioners answered and counterclaimed, alleging Philadelphia breached its contract obligations and acted in bad faith. Both sides filed summary judgment motions, with Petitioners claiming the DUI exclusion was unenforceable under the reasonable expectations doctrine and also void as contrary to public policy. Without explanation, the trial court denied Petitioners’ motion and granted summary judgment to Philadelphia. Petitioners appealed both rulings, and the court of appeals affirmed, holding that the DUI exclusion from the portion of coverage exceeding the minimum limits required by law was neither void as against public policy, unconscionable, nor against the reasonable expectations of an insured. Philadelphia, 196 Ariz. at 393-94 ¶7, ¶ 10, 998 P.2d at 1066-67 ¶ 7, ¶ 10.

¶ 7 We hold that the DUI exclusion in the present policy violates the reasonable expectations doctrine of Darner Motor Sales, Inc. v. Universal Underwriters Insurance Co., 140 Ariz. 383, 682 P.2d 388 (1984), Gordinier v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 154 Ariz. 266, 742 P.2d 277 (1987), and Averett v. Farmers Insurance Co., 177 Ariz. 531, 533, 869 P.2d 505, 507 (1994). We therefore vacate the court of appeals’ opinion and reverse the trial court’s judgment.

DISCUSSION

A. Primary or excess coverage

¶ 8 Both parties agree that, unless permitted by statute, exclusionary clauses in basic motor vehicle liability policies are void as against public policy with respect to the minimum coverage requirements set by the Financial Responsibility Act (FRA). A.R.S. § 28^001 et seq.; see also A.R.S. § 28-2166 (requiring car rental companies to provide “public liability insurance” in limits of at least $15,000/$30,000). Exclusionary clauses in policies applicable to coverages in addition to or in excess of the minimum limits required by statute, however, may be valid and enforceable. Arceneaux v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 113 Ariz.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Yf Group v. Farmer
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2019
TIG Insurance v. Tyco International Ltd.
919 F. Supp. 2d 439 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 2013)
Gregorio v. Geico General Insurance
815 F. Supp. 2d 1097 (D. Arizona, 2011)
EMPIRE FIRE & MARINE INS. v. Lang
655 F. Supp. 2d 150 (D. Connecticut, 2009)
Morgan ex rel. Morgan v. American Family Mutual Insurance
336 F. App'x 644 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Lincoln General Insurance Co. v. Bailey
224 P.3d 336 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2009)
Morgan v. American Family
Ninth Circuit, 2009
Morgan Ex Rel. Clark v. American Family Mut. Ins.
563 F.3d 898 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Odom v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Arizona
169 P.3d 120 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2007)
Orfaly v. Tucson Symphony Society
99 P.3d 1030 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2004)
American Family Mutual Insurance v. White
65 P.3d 449 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2003)
Collins v. Randall
836 So. 2d 352 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
Vencor Inc. v. National States Insurance Company
303 F.3d 1024 (Ninth Circuit, 2002)
Manterola v. Farmers Insurance Exchange
30 P.3d 639 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 P.3d 395, 200 Ariz. 9, 345 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 25, 2001 Ariz. LEXIS 56, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/philadelphia-indemnity-insurance-v-barerra-ariz-2001.