Ratchford v. Florey Insurance Agency

72 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 154
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County
DecidedMarch 8, 2005
Docketno. 00-CIV-2121
StatusPublished

This text of 72 Pa. D. & C.4th 1 (Ratchford v. Florey Insurance Agency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ratchford v. Florey Insurance Agency, 72 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 154 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

MINORA, J.,

— This action is before the court by way of the defendant, Florey Insurance Agency’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2 joined by co-defendant, American Independent Insurance Company. All parties have briefed their respective positions and oral argument was heard January 4,2005. Accordingly, this matter is ripe for disposition.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This matter has been instituted by the plaintiff’s complaint which was originally filed on June 10, 2000, and subsequently twice amended. The first amended complaint was filed September 13, 2000, and the second [3]*3amended complaint was filed on October 6, 2000. The claims ultimately asserted by the plaintiff against the defendants include two separate counts of negligence, one against the Florey Insurance Agency and the other against American Independent Insurance Company. The root of the plaintiff’s allegations arise from an insurance policy covering motor vehicle liability which was provided to the plaintiff by Florey. The agency only secured a policy providing for limited tort coverage when plaintiff claims that full tort coverage was what he selected. The underlying circumstances that prompted the initiation of this suit are set forth below.

On May 2, 1998, the plaintiff was involved in an automobile accident that occurred at the comers of Main and Elm Streets in Moosic, Pennsylvania. Allegedly, the plaintiff was driving his 1994 BMW with his mother when he was struck by another vehicle owned and operated by the Strunks. The collision caused the plaintiff both economic and noneconomic damages. Prior to the accident, the plaintiff maintained an automobile insurance policy issued by the American Independent Insurance Company, and purchased from an agent of the Florey Insurance Agency.1 The plaintiff alleges that he notified American through its agent that he required an insurance policy covering full tort liability. (See second amended complaint ¶6.) It was not until after the accident that Mr. Ratchford, the plaintiff, was informed that his insurance policy did not include the full tort option. (See second amended complaint ¶8.) The plaintiff further alleges that neither Florey nor American presented [4]*4the plaintiff with notice of the available tort options at the time application/renewal was made of his insurance coverage as is required under the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law §1791.1. (75 Pa.C.S. §1791.1.) Without full tort coverage, Mr. Ratchford is barred from recovering for his noneconomic damages from the accident of May 2, 1998.

Mr. Ratchford provided deposition testimony that he purchased the 1994 BMW 325i from the 286 Corporation on April 20, 1998. The plaintiff indicated that the salesperson from the car dealership, Dan Sylvester II, helped him obtain his insurance policy covering the BMW. The testimony indicates that Mr. Sylvester made a telephone call to the Florey Agency to arrange for insurance coverage on the plaintiff’s new vehicle including the full tort option. (See D.T. Ratchford pp. 76-78.)

After the accident on May 2, 1998, the plaintiff notified his insurer that both he and his mother were injured in the collision. Reportedly, the plaintiff was instructed by the Florey Agency to report to their office to sign documents to “make the policy right and to ensure payment of his medical bills.” (D.T. Ratchford p. 88.) On May 7, 1998, the plaintiff appeared at the Florey office and executed a written application for automobile insurance for his newly acquired BMW. The plaintiff testified that during that meeting he was under the impression that he was executing documents for his medical bills. (D.T. Ratchford p. 89 ¶3.) Instead he executed documents extending the policy that was currently in place including only the limited tort option to cover his new vehicle. The plaintiff recounted that no disclosure was made by the agents on the topic of tort options, nor was [5]*5he given the required forms pursuant to the MVFRL. At the core of the complaint is the allegation that the defendants have neglected to extend full tort coverage to the plaintiff after he requested such coverage for his automobile insurance at the time of purchase. It is the defendants’ contention that, since the plaintiff merely added another vehicle to his then-existing policy of auto insurance, the plaintiff’s prior selection of the limited tort option should be operative since the plaintiff never specified to the defendants that he wanted full tort coverage. The factual dispute between the plaintiff, alleging he ordered full tort coverage, and defendant denying plaintiff ever so specified full tort coverage is enough to bar the pending motions, but to conclude that now is premature.

Before we begin our discussion of the issues presented by the defendants’ motions for summary judgment, we shall first set forth the standard of review.

Summary Judgment:

The parties have presented motions to the court pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 103 5.2, which allows a party to move for summary judgment:

“(1) whenever there is no genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense which could be established by additional discovery or expert report, or
“(2) if, after the completion of discovery relevant to the motion, including the production of expert reports, an adverse party who will bear the burden of proof at trial has failed to produce evidence of facts essential to [6]*6the cause of action or defense, which in a juiy trial would require the issues to be submitted to a jury.” See Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2(1) and (2).

Accordingly, summary judgment is appropriate only in those cases where the record demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of any essential facts, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, Conway v. Tink’s Spearment Café Inc., 01 CIV 6105 C.C.P. Lacka. Cty. (Judge Minora August 13, 2004); Bird Hill Farms Inc. v. United States Cargo & Courier Service Inc., 845 A.2d 900, 903 (Pa. Super. 2004), and the moving party carries the burden to prove that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Roe, 437 Pa. Super. 414, 419-20, 650 A.2d 94, 97 (1994); Overly v. Kass, 382 Pa. Super. 108, 111, 554 A.2d 970, 972 (1989). A proper grant of summary judgment is dependent upon an evidentiary record that either (1) shows the material facts are undisputed or (2) contains sufficient evidence of facts to make out a prima facie cause of action or defense. Therefore, there is no genuine issue to be submitted to the jury. Wisniski v. Brown & Brown Insurance Co. of Pa., 852 A.2d 1206 (Pa. Super. 2004). Furthermore, if the defendant is the moving party, he may make the necessary showing to support the grant of summary judgment by pointing to materials that indicate the plaintiff is unable to satisfy an element in his cause of action. Rauch v. Mike-Mayer, 783 A.2d 815 (Pa. Super. 2001),

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Bluebook (online)
72 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 154, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ratchford-v-florey-insurance-agency-pactcompllackaw-2005.