Safeco Ins. Co. v. Woodley

8 P.3d 304
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 31, 2000
Docket45841-8-I
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 8 P.3d 304 (Safeco Ins. Co. v. Woodley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Safeco Ins. Co. v. Woodley, 8 P.3d 304 (Wash. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

8 P.3d 304 (2000)

SAFECO INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent,
v.
Denise Brackett WOODLEY, Appellant.

No. 45841-8-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 17, 2000.
Publication Ordered August 31, 2000.

*305 Susan Machler, Simeon Osborn, Osborn, Law Firm, Seattle, for Appellant.

J. Robert Leach, Anderson Hunter Law Firm, Everett, for Respondent.

COLEMAN, J.

Denise Woodley appeals a declaratory judgment permitting her insurer to offset her underinsured motorist benefits with the benefits the insurer had already paid under the medical and personal injury protection provisions of her policy and the full amount of her recovery from the tortfeasor's insurer. She contends that the offsets impermissibly reduce the underinsured motorist coverage mandated by RCW 48.22.030(3), that her policy did not unambiguously permit offsets for medical and personal injury protection payments, and that Safeco waived its right to offset these amounts. We conclude that Safeco is entitled to the offsets under Woodley's policy and did not waive this right. Because Woodley remains fully compensated by the reduced award, we affirm the trial court's decision below.

FACTS

Woodley was injured by a negligent motorist whose liability insurance had a $300,000 limit. She received this amount from the tortfeasor's insurer and $56,435 in medical and personal injury protection (PIP) benefits from her own insurer, Safeco Insurance Company. Claiming that her total damages exceeded $2 million, Woodley demanded further payment from Safeco up to the $1 million available under her underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage or arbitration under the policy. The parties agreed that Woodley was not at fault and was entitled to recover under her UIM coverage, but disagreed as to the amount of her damages. The arbitration *306 panel ultimately awarded Woodley $450,000 in "total damages."[1]

The day after the arbitrators' decision, Safeco informed Woodley that it intended to offset the award with the $300,000 she recovered from the tortfeasor and the medical and PIP benefits Safeco had previously paid. Woodley's UIM coverage authorized an offset for "all sums paid" by the tortfeasor.[2] Her medical and PIP coverage provided that payments made under those sections "shall be applied toward" any judgment or award the insured received under her UIM coverage.[3] After receiving no response, Safeco tendered Woodley a check for $93,565, the amount of the arbitration award less the offsets. Five months later, Woodley moved to confirm the award. She did not dispute the deduction for the tortfeasor's direct payment but contested the medical and PIP offsets, claiming that the arbitrators had awarded her only general damages and future wage loss. The trial court confirmed the award with a reduction for the undisputed $300,000 offset, but refused to offset the medical and PIP payments.

On appeal, another panel of this court reversed, holding that Safeco was entitled to the medical and PIP offsets and the trial court erred in refusing to reduce the award. Woodley v. Safeco Ins. Co., 84 Wash.App. 653, 1997 WL 18551, vacated and withdrawn, 953 P.2d 822 (1998). This opinion was later withdrawn and the case remanded in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Price v. Farmers Ins. Co., 133 Wash.2d 490, 946 P.2d 388 (1997). In Price, the court held that in a proceeding to confirm an arbitration award, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to determine the propriety of PIP offsets, an issue that was not submitted to the arbitrators. The Price court indicated that such issues must be resolved by agreement or in a separate action under the trial court's general jurisdiction, noting that the insurer bore the burden of demonstrating that a coverage dispute existed which precluded entry of judgment on the arbitration award. Price, 133 Wash.2d at 501-02, 946 P.2d 388.

After Safeco commenced this declaratory judgment action, the trial court found that Safeco was entitled to offset the full amount of the tortfeasor's payment and its medical and PIP payments. The trial court ruled that the arbitration award included all damages caused by the accident, including losses for which Safeco had made payments under the medical and PIP coverage, and thus Woodley would receive a double recovery if offsets for these benefits were not made. Woodley appeals.

DISCUSSION

First, Woodley argues that Price should be overruled, contending that the decision will increase litigation between insurers and insureds and eliminate the many benefits of arbitration by imposing impractical, laborious, and costly burdens on UIM coverage disputes. We are bound, however, by the holding in Price and cannot overrule that court's decision.

*307 Woodley further claims that the provisions in her policy which permit the insurer to offset medical and PIP payments from her UIM recovery violate RCW 48.22.030(3), relying on Britton v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 104 Wash.2d 518, 707 P.2d 125 (1985). In Britton, our Supreme Court held that an insurer could not offset a UIM award with the insured's government disability benefits, emphasizing that the disability benefits are a direct statutory entitlement and thus cannot be offset absent specific statutory authorization. Britton, 104 Wash.2d at 532, 707 P.2d 125. In a subsequent decision, however, the court specifically "decline[d] to extend Britton to cases ... where the offset or reimbursement involves contractually provided PIP benefits and the purpose is to avoid a double recovery." Keenan v. Industrial Indem. Ins. Co., 108 Wash.2d 314, 321, 738 P.2d 270 (1987), overruled on other grounds by Price, 133 Wash.2d 490, 946 P.2d 388.

In Keenan, 108 Wash.2d at 317-22, 738 P.2d 270, the court permitted the insurer to offset a UIM award with paid PIP amounts, holding that the offset does not reduce UIM coverage in violation of RCW 48.22.030 if the insured remains fully compensated.[4] The court further rejected the insured's argument that the offset would produce a "windfall" for the insurer in additional premiums, noting that the coverages insured against different risks.[5]Keenan, 108 Wash.2d at 321-22, 738 P.2d 270. Thus, Keenan

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8 P.3d 304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/safeco-ins-co-v-woodley-washctapp-2000.