Progressive Northern Insurance v. Mohr

47 A.3d 492, 2012 WL 2360889, 2012 Del. LEXIS 327
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedJune 21, 2012
DocketNo. 243, 2011
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 47 A.3d 492 (Progressive Northern Insurance v. Mohr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Progressive Northern Insurance v. Mohr, 47 A.3d 492, 2012 WL 2360889, 2012 Del. LEXIS 327 (Del. 2012).

Opinions

JACOBS, Justice

(for the majority):

Delaware’s automobile insurance statute requires regulated insurers to offer a minimum amount of insurance on automobiles that are registered in the State.1 On one subject, however, the statute is unclear: must an automobile insurer provide personal injury protection (“PIP”) coverage to an insured where that person is struck in Delaware, as a pedestrian, by a car (the “striking car”) that is insured in Delaware? 2 This case presents that question of first impression.

William Mohr, the plaintiff-below-appel-lee, was struck in Delaware by a car that was insured in Delaware. Mohr recovered the minimum $15,000 coverage limit from the carrier that insured the striking car. But, Mohr also sought to recover from Progressive Northern Insurance Company, the defendant-below-appellant (“Progressive”), which had sold an automobile insurance policy to Mohr’s mother. Under the Progressive policy, Mohr’s mother was the named insured, and Mohr was insured as a member of his mother’s household. The Progressive policy, by its terms, did not cover Mohr as a pedestrian in- the instant circumstances. The Superior [494]*494Court held, nonetheless, that Mohr was entitled to recover under the Progressive policy, because insofar as it denied PIP coverage, that policy conflicted with Delaware’s automobile insurance statute which — the Superior Court found — mandated such coverage. The court ordered Progressive to pay Mohr the $85,000 difference between the $15,000 he recovered from the insurer of the striking car and the $100,000 PIP coverage limit under his mother’s Progressive policy. We And no error and affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The pivotal facts are undisputed. Mohr was struck by a car in Seaford, Delaware, while a pedestrian, on February 2, 2008. The automobile that struck Mohr was registered and insured in Delaware. Mohr was seriously injured, and was paid the statutory minimum $15,000 limit under the policy of the carrier that insured the striking car. That amount, however, did not adequately compensate Mohr for his injuries.

Mohr’s mother owned a Delaware-registered and insured automobile. The mother’s automobile was insured under a Progressive policy that had a $100,000 PIP benefits limit,3 and that relevantly provided pedestrian PIP benefits to “household members” of the “named insured.”4 Mohr, who was a “household member” of the “named insured” (his mother), sought to recover the $85,000 difference between the amount he received from the insurer of the striking car, and the $100,000 limit under his mother’s policy. Progressive denied the claim on the ground that its policy did not provide pedestrian coverage to insureds who were struck in Delaware by a Delaware-insured automobile.

It is undisputed that Mohr, even though an insured under his mother’s policy, was not covered. We pause to explain why. The Progressive policy insured Mohr’s mother and members of her household (including Mohr) as pedestrians, but only where the insured pedestrian is struck by a car that is not insured in Delaware.5 In this case, the striking car was insured in Delaware. Therefore, Progressive’s policy, by its terms, did not cover Mohr in the circumstances of this case.

Mohr sued Progressive in the Superior Court for a determination that Progressive was required by statute to provide PIP coverage for his injuries, whether or not its insurance contract so provided. Progressive defended on the basis that Delaware’s automobile insurance statute does not require an insurer to provide PIP benefits to an insured pedestrian who is struck in Delaware by a Delaware-insured car.

In an opinion issued on September 27, 2010, the Superior Court denied Progressive’s motion for summary judgment and awarded Mohr $85,000. The court held [495]*495that Delaware case law “supports a finding] that Plaintiff may be entitled to the monetary difference in the two policies [the striking ear’s and the pedestrian’s],” and that to “hold otherwise would limit no-fault coverage beyond what the legislature envisioned.”6 Under Progressive’s construction of the statute, a recovery of benefits would depend on whether the striking car is insured in Delaware, regardless of the amount of PIP coverage for which a premium was paid. The Superior Court stated that if Progressive’s position were adopted, then “should [a pedestrian] have the misfortune of being struck by one of these ill-fated, lesser-insured Delaware vehicles, she must resign herself to that vehicle’s limited coverage. [That] crapshoot cannot be what the legislature intended for Delaware residents.”7

This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

I. The Contentions and the Applicable Standard

In this appeal, Progressive claims that the Superior Court reversibly erred, because by statute Progressive was not required to provide an insured pedestrian PIP benefits where, as here, the insured is struck in Delaware by a Delaware-insured automobile. All parties agree that the Progressive policy, by its terms, did not provide pedestrian PIP coverage in those circumstances. The sole legal question presented is whether Progressive was statutorily mandated to provide such coverage. That requires us to decide whether Delaware’s automobile insurance statute — in particular, subparagraph (e) of 21 Del. C. § 2118(a)(2) — requires an insurer to provide PIP coverage under a Delaware policy for an insured who is injured, as a pedestrian, in Delaware by a Delaware-insured car. If the statute is found to so require, then the Superior Court’s judgment awarding Mohr $85,000 of PIP benefits under the Progressive policy must be upheld.8

A trial court’s interpretation of a statute presents, on appellate review, a question of law that this Court reviews de novo.9 “The goal of statutory construction is to determine and give effect to [the] legislative intent.”10 When a statute is interpreted, “[u]ridefined words ... must be given their ordinary, common meaning.” 11 Those words “should not be construed as surplusage if there is a reasonable construction which will give them meaning.”12 Courts “must ascribe a purpose to the use of statutory language, if reasonably possible.”13 Where the statutory language is clear on its face and is fairly susceptible to only one reading, the unambiguous text will be construed accordingly, unless the result is so absurd [496]*496that it cannot be reasonably attributed to the legislature.14 Where, however, the statutory text is ambiguous, the court will resort to other sources, including relevant public policy, “for guidance [as] to [the statute’s] apparent purpose.”15 And, in carrying out its interpretive task, this Court will “read each section [of the statute] in light of all the others to produce a harmonious whole.”16

The practical consequence of the issue presented is that if Progressive’s interpretation of 21 Del. C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 A.3d 492, 2012 WL 2360889, 2012 Del. LEXIS 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/progressive-northern-insurance-v-mohr-del-2012.