Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Haney

824 S.W.2d 949, 1992 Mo. App. LEXIS 266, 1992 WL 27840
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 18, 1992
DocketNo. 17435
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 824 S.W.2d 949 (Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Haney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Haney, 824 S.W.2d 949, 1992 Mo. App. LEXIS 266, 1992 WL 27840 (Mo. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

. CROW, Judge.

In this appeal we must decide, among other things, whether a family exclusion clause in three policies of automobile liability insurance issued before the effective date of The Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law1 (July 1, 1987) is enforce[951]*951able where the driver is sued because of an accident occurring after that date. The pertinent facts are undisputed.

On February 10, 1988, C.A. Haney (“C.A.”) was a passenger in a 1985 Chevrolet Caprice owned by him and being operated, with his permission, by his son, Johney L. Haney (“Johney”), then age 31. The Caprice collided with another vehicle, resulting in C.A.’s death. Johney survived.

On the date of the collision, three policies of automobile liability insurance issued by Shelter Mutual Insurance Company (“Shelter”) were in force. Each had been issued May 29, 1987.

Policy 24-1-2656876-1 named C.A. as the insured and identified the Caprice involved in the collision as the “described automobile.”

Policy 24-1-4043153-1 named Johney as the insured and identified a “1981 FORDT C30 1 TON” as the “described automobile.”

Policy 24-1-4043153-2 named Johney as the insured and identified a “1976 CHEVR VAN G10” as the “described automobile.”

Each policy provided coverage for bodily injury liability (“Coverage A”) and property damage liability (“Coverage B”). The limits of Coverage A in each policy were $100,000 “each person,” and $300,000 “each accident.” Each policy contained this provision:

Coverages A and B do not apply to:
[[Image here]]
Bodily injury to the insured or any member of the family of the insured residing in the same household as the insured.

On the date of the collision, Johney was residing with C.A. and the latter’s wife, Mary (Johney’s mother), in the same household.

On February 10,1989, Mary sued Johney for the wrongful death of C.A. § 537.080, RSMo 1986. We henceforth refer to that case as “Mary’s suit.”

On December 5, 1989, Shelter commenced the instant case against Johney, seeking a judgment declaring (a) none of the three policies provide Johney bodily injury liability coverage for the alleged wrongful death of C.A., and (b) Shelter owes Johney no duty to defend him in Mary’s suit.

Mary moved for, and was granted, leave to intervene in this case. Thereafter, the case was submitted to the trial court on stipulated facts.

The trial court, relying on American Family Mutual Insurance Co. v. Ward, 789 S.W.2d 791 (Mo. banc 1990), found the family exclusion clause in each policy (quoted supra) valid. Consequently, the trial court ruled none of the policies provided Johney liability coverage for C.A.’s death, and Shelter had no duty to provide Johney a defense in Mary’s suit.

Mary, alone, appeals.2 She presents one point relied on:

The trial court erred in ... finding that there was no insurance coverage in that such judgment ... erroneously declares and applies the law, since the ... finding which denies coverage is based on the “family exclusion” clause of the insurance policy, and application of such ... clause is erroneous because:
A. The “family exclusion” has been rendered void as against the public policy of this State as set forth in The Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, and
B. By its own terms, the policy of insurance is deemed modified so as to comply with state law existing at the time of the ... accident.

Although the point uses the singular term “insurance policy,” we infer Mary intends the point to apply to all three insurance policies.

While this appeal was pending, the Supreme Court of Missouri decided Halpin v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company, 823 S.W.2d 479 (Mo. banc 1992). [952]*952There, a policy of automobile liability insurance stated coverage did not apply to bodily injury to, among other persons, the insured or anyone related to the operator and residing in the operator’s household. Hatpin held The Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (“the FRL”) “effects a partial invalidity” of such clauses. Halpin, at 480.

Hatpin explained that § 303.025, RSMo 1986 3 (a part of the 1986 legislation identified earlier4), and § 303.190, RSMo 19865 (unchanged by the 1986 legislation) require a contract of liability insurance to provide the coverage specified in § 303.190 so the insured will be in compliance with § 303.-025. Hatpin, at 481.

Hatpin declared the plain purpose of the 1986 legislation was to ensure that people injured on the highways may collect damage awards, within limits, against negligent motor vehicle operators, and this protection extends to occupants of the insured vehicle. Hatpin, at 482. Such purpose would be incompletely fulfilled if the “household exclusion clause” (as Hatpin characterized it) were fully enforced. Id.

Hatpin rejected the notion that because § 303.160, RSMo 1986, provides alternate methods for proving financial responsibility, the FRL is not a compulsory insurance law. Hatpin, at 481. Observing that the great majority of motor vehicle owners will undertake to maintain financial responsibility by means of motor vehicle liability insurance policies, Hatpin stated, “The statute is, for all practical purposes, a compulsory insurance law.” Id.

However, as we understand Hatpin, the FRL did not render the household exclusion clause entirely void. Because § 303.190.26 requires motor vehicle liability insurance policies to provide coverage in only the amounts specified therein, insurers and their policyholders are free to make insurance contracts containing household exclusion clauses affecting coverage in excess of the amounts required by § 303.190.2. Hatpin, at 482-83. Hatpin states § 303.190.7, RSMo 1986,7 manifests to insureds that [953]*953they have no basis for expecting coverage in excess of the requirements of § 303.-190.2. Hatpin, at 483.

If Hatpin applies to the three policies here, it (a) nullifies each one’s family exclusion clause insofar as the exclusion purports to deny coverage in the amounts specified by § 303.190.2, but (b) leaves the exclusion clauses intact as to any coverage exceeding those amounts.

In determining whether Hatpin applies, we note Hatpin and the instant case are alike in one respect. In both, the accident occurred after the effective date of the FRL (July 1, 1987).

However, in the instant case all three policies were issued before the effective date of the FRL. In Hatpin it appears from the dissent of Robertson, C.J., that the policy was issued after the effective date of the FRL. In that respect, Hatpin and the instant case differ.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

American Standard Insurance Co. v. Hargrave
34 S.W.3d 88 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2000)
Gabriel v. Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.
897 S.W.2d 119 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1995)
Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. IGF Insurance Co.
888 S.W.2d 757 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1994)
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Carney
861 S.W.2d 665 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)
State Ex Rel. Toastmaster, Inc. v. Mummert
857 S.W.2d 869 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
824 S.W.2d 949, 1992 Mo. App. LEXIS 266, 1992 WL 27840, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shelter-mutual-insurance-co-v-haney-moctapp-1992.