Privette v. UGI Corp.

15 Pa. D. & C.4th 230, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 233
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County
DecidedJanuary 27, 1992
Docketno. 2407-1989
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Pa. D. & C.4th 230 (Privette v. UGI Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Privette v. UGI Corp., 15 Pa. D. & C.4th 230, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 233 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1992).

Opinion

GEORGELIS, J.,

Before the court are the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s cross-motions for summary judgment. A pre-trial conference was held on October 12, 1990, and the parties were directed to file a stipulation of facts, their motions and their briefs. In an order dated October 12, 1990, we set forth the issues which the parties identified as requiring adjudication. The motions were filed, and they were praeciped for disposition on October 18 and 24, 1991.

Set forth in the stipulation, the facts relevant to the disposition of these motions are as follows. On October 28,1988, an accident occurred at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 23 and Granger Road, Upper Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in which accident a motor vehicle, which was owned and used by the defendant, UGI Corp., struck a pedestrian, plaintiff Jeffrey Privette, a minor, who was then 8 years old. The accident resulted in bodily injury to Privette with medical expenses exceeding $75,000.

At the time of the accident, Cheryl Swift, the mother and legal guardian of Privette, was the owner of motor vehicles, which were registered in Pennsylvania but which were not insured and did not, therefore, meet the financial responsibility1 requirement of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, 75 Pa.C.S. §1701 et seq.

[232]*232Summary judgment should be entered only “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law....” Pa.R.C.P. 1035(b). The court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and any doubts must be resolved against the entry of summary judgment. Yaindl v. Ingersoll-Rand Co., 281 Pa. Super. 560, 422 A.2d 611 (1980).

Since the material facts have been placed before us by stipulation, they present no genuine issue and, since we believe summary judgment is warranted as a matter of law, we will enter it. For the reasons stated below, the plaintiff’s motion will be granted, and the defendant’s motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

As set forth in our order, the first issue is whether UGI must provide first-party benefits.2 The plaintiff contends that he is entitled to first-party benefits in accord with (1) the terms of UGI’s contract with its insurance carrier; and (2) the Law, specifically 75 Pa.C.S. §1713(a)(4). Title 75 Pa.C.S. §1713 (entitled “Source of benefits”) provides:

“(a) General Rule — Except as provided in section 1714 (relating to ineligible claimants), a person who suffers injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle shall recover first-party benefits against applicable insurance coverage in the following order of priority:
“(1) For a named insured, the policy on which he is the named insured.
[233]*233“(2) For an insured, the policy covering the insured.
“(3) For the occupants of an insured motor vehicle, the policy on that motor vehicle.
“(4) For a person who is not the occupant of a motor vehicle, the policy on any motor vehicle involved in the accident....”

Section 1714 provides: “[a]n owner of a currently registered motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility ... cannot recover first-party benefits.” Since he is not an “owner,”3 Privette contends that this section does not exclude him from recovering first-party benefits and that section 1713(a)(4) requires UGI to provide them.

UGI contends that section 1714 bars Privette’s recovery, because his rights are derivative of the rights of Swift, an ineligible claimant. It contends further that Swift, who is legally responsible for paying the medical expenses of Privette, would benefit if Privette recovered first-party benefits under section 1713(a)(4) and that, because she has failed to provide financial responsibility on a registered motor vehicle, she should be precluded from passing on her legal responsibility.

The parties have referred us to case law, which involves section 1714, which has been interpreted to preclude recovery of first-party benefits by uninsured claimants when they are passengers in cars of uninsured motorists. See Kresge v. Keystone Insurance Co., 389 Pa. Super. 548, 567 A.2d 739 (1989) (where plaintiff owned an inoperable, uninsured car, which was registered in her name) and [234]*234cases cited therein. The instant case is, however, factually distinguishable from these cases because it involves a minor plaintiff who is not an owner or a passenger.

The plaintiff also refers us to Ibarra v. Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance Co., 402 Pa. Super. 27, 585 A.2d 1119 (1991), which, even though it is also factually distinguishable, interprets the Law’s definition of “owner,” which we must do in the motions before us. In Ibarra, the Superior Court held that a claimant-driver of an uninsured vehicle, which was titled solely in her estranged husband’s name, was not that vehicle’s owner and did not have a property interest in it; accordingly, she was not precluded from recovering first-party benefits under her insurance on a different vehicle.

The parties have not referred us to and we have been unable to uncover any case factually consistent with the one before us. Consequently, to resolve the issue of UGI’s responsibility as to first-party benefits, we must interpret the applicable provisions of the Law.

We focus first upon section 1713(a)’s order of priority for the recovery of benefits, and we do not believe the first three sub-sections are applicable. The first allows a named insured to recover from a policy on which he is so named, but Privette does not so qualify. The second allows an insured to recover from a policy covering him. The Law defines “insured” as:

“Any of the following:
“(1) An individual identified by name as an insured in a policy of motor vehicle liability insurance.
“(2) If residing in the household of the named insured:
“(i) a spouse or other relative of the named insured; or
[235]*235“(ii) a minor in the custody of either the named insured or relative of the named insured.” 75 Pa.C.S. §1702.

Since Privette was not identified as an insured on any policy and since he was not a resident in the household of a named insured, this second sub-section is also inapplicable.

The third sub-section allows the occupant of an insured vehicle to recover from the policy on that vehicle, but, since Privette was not occupying any vehicle at the time he was injured, this is also inapplicable. The fourth subsection allows a person, who is not the occupant of a vehicle to recover from the policy on any vehicle involved in the accident.

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Related

Ibarra v. Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance
585 A.2d 1119 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Donegal Mutual Insurance v. Long
564 A.2d 937 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)
Donegal Mutual Insurance v. Long
597 A.2d 1124 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Kresge v. Keystone Insurance
567 A.2d 739 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)
Mowery v. Prudential Property & Casualty Ins.
535 A.2d 658 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Yaindl v. Ingersoll-Rand Co. Standard Pump-Aldrich Division
422 A.2d 611 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
DeMichele v. Erie Insurance Exchange
561 A.2d 1271 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
15 Pa. D. & C.4th 230, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/privette-v-ugi-corp-pactcompllancas-1992.