Pitchford v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

934 P.2d 616, 147 Or. App. 9, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 272
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 12, 1997
Docket16-95-03865; CA A90198
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 934 P.2d 616 (Pitchford v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pitchford v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, 934 P.2d 616, 147 Or. App. 9, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 272 (Or. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

*11 RIGGS, P. J.

In this proceeding submitted to the court on stipulated facts and stipulated questions pursuant to ORCP 66, plaintiff sought underinsurance motorist (UIM) benefits from his own automobile insurer for injuries that he sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Defendant appeals from the $28,334 judgment for plaintiff, contending that the trial court erred in failing to credit against the UIM policy limits the payment that plaintiff received from the underinsured motorist coverage of his employer’s automobile insurance policy, the full amount of the workers’ compensation benefits that plaintiff received from his employer, and a $5,000 payment that plaintiff received from the tortfeasor. Plaintiff cross-appeals, contending that the trial court erred in deducting from defendant’s UIM limits a portion of the workers’ compensation benefits that plaintiff received from his employer. We reverse on the appeal and affirm on the cross-appeal.

Plaintiff was injured in a two-car accident while driving a car owned by his employer, Globe Communications Corporation (Globe). The collision was caused by the negligence of the other driver, Wick. Plaintiffs damages were in excess of $230,000. At the time of the accident, Globe had automobile insurance through Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Wick had automobile insurance through Sentry Insurance Company, and plaintiff had his own policy with defendant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.

After the accident, plaintiff received $25,000 from Sentry, representing Sentry’s full liability policy limit. Wick also made a personal contribution of $5,000 toward a settlement with plaintiff. Plaintiff then filed an wncferinsured motorist claim against Globe’s policy with Liberty Mutual, which was settled for the full UIM policy limit of $25,000 ($50,000 minus Sentry’s payment of $25,000). Plaintiff also received workers’ compensation benefits from Aetna Insurance, Globe’s workers’ compensation carrier, in the amount of $113,383.64. Plaintiff then made a claim under the UIM provision of his policy with defendant, which has a limit of $100,000 per accident, seeking payment of $75,000 (the policy limit of $100,000 less Sentry’s payment of $25,000).

*12 Section III of plaintiffs policy with defendant, entitled “Uninsured Motor Vehicle,” provides:

“We will pay compensatory damages for bodily injury an insured is legally entitled to collect from the owner or driver of an uninsured motor vehicle.”

“Uninsured Motor Vehicle” is defined in the policy as

“1. a land motor vehicle, the ownership, maintenance or use of which is:
* * * *
“c. insured or bonded for bodily injury liability at the time of the accident and whose limit of liability for bodily injury liability:
“(1) is less than the limit of liability for uninsured motor vehicle coverage under this policy; or
“(2) has been reduced by payments to persons other than an insured to less than the limit of liability for uninsured motor vehicle coverage under this policy[.]” (Emphasis in original.)

In the Uninsured Motorist section, under Limits of Liability, the policy provides:

“2. Any amounts payable under this [uninsured motorist] coverage shall be reduced by any amount paid or payable to or for the insured:
“a. by or for any person or organization who is or may be held legally liable for the bodily injury to the insured',
* * * *
“c. under workers’ compensation, disability benefits or similar law.” (Emphasis in original.)

Defendant takes the position that, under the policy and under Oregon Law, it is entitled to deduct from its UIM limits an amount equal to the payments that plaintiff received from Wick, Liberty Mutual and Aetna, and therefore owes plaintiff nothing in UIM benefits. Plaintiff concedes those amounts are deductible, but contends that the deductions are to be taken from plaintiffs total damages rather than from the UIM limits.

*13 The parties submitted their controversy to the trial court for determination, pursuant to ORCP 66, on stipulated facts and with the following questions:

“Query #1: Which of the above described payments, if any, are proper deductions and/or credits in an underinsurance claim.
“Query #2: Are the above payments, which are determined to be proper deductions and/or credits in a UIM claim, deducted from plaintiffs damages or from defendant’s policy limits.”

The parties submitted briefs, and the court heard oral argument. With regard to the first query, the court held that, as agreed by the parties, the amount paid to plaintiff by Sentry was a proper deduction from defendant’s UIM policy limits. The court ruled that the $5,000 paid to plaintiff by Wick personally was not a proper deduction. The court held that plaintiffs workers’ compensation benefits were properly deducted from UIM policy limits. It determined, however, that the amount of the deduction for workers’ compensation benefits would not be the full amount plaintiff had received from Aetna, but rather the amount of Aetna’ statutory lien pursuant to the provisions of ORS 656.593. The court made no ruling on the appropriateness of the $25,000 deduction for the payment that had been made to plaintiff by Liberty Mutual.

With regard to the parties’ second query, the trial court relied on our opinion in California Casualty Indemnity Exchange v. Maritzen, 123 Or App 166, 860 P2d 259, rev den 318 Or 97 (1993), and held that the deductions should be taken from the policy limits, rather than from plaintiff’s total damages. The court then calculated the amount that plaintiff should receive from defendant. From the policy limits of $100,000, it deducted the $25,000 payment from Sentry and Aetna’s statutory lien, which it calculated to be $46,666 of the workers’ compensation award, for a judgment of $28,334.

On cross-appeal, plaintiff contends that the amounts paid to him as workers’ compensation benefits and the amounts paid by other insurance companies and Wick should be deducted from his total damages, rather than from his policy’s UIM limits. In California Casualty, we considered the *14 same question in the context of a claim for uninsured motorist (UM) benefits. The policy contained a UM provision that the “loss payable” under the terms of the policy was to be reduced by amounts payable under the Workers’ Compensation Law. The majority of the court held that that provision was analogous to ORS 742.504

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
934 P.2d 616, 147 Or. App. 9, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 272, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pitchford-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-orctapp-1997.