Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Straw

334 S.W.3d 592, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 70, 2011 WL 281743
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 25, 2011
DocketSD 30339
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 334 S.W.3d 592 (Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Straw) 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. Straw, 334 S.W.3d 592, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 70, 2011 WL 281743 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

[594]*594WILLIAM W. FRANCIS, JR., Judge.

Shelter Mutual Insurance Company (“Shelter”) brought a declaratory judgment action against Loyd Straw (“Straw”) to determine the amount of underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage available for payment to Straw following his injuries in a motor vehicle collision. The trial court granted Straw’s motion for summary judgment in the amount of $100,000, and denied Shelter’s motion for summary judgment. This appeal followed. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and enter judgment in favor of Shelter on its motion for summary judgment.

Facts and Procedural History

Straw was involved in an automobile collision with Paula Heiskell (“Heiskell”) on December 14, 2007. Heiskell was negligent in causing the collision and Straw was without any comparative fault.

At the time of the collision, Heiskell was insured under a policy issued by Farmers Insurance Group (“Farmers”) that provided liability coverage of $100,000. Farmers paid $100,000 on behalf of Heiskell to Straw for the damages and bodily injuries Straw suffered by reason of the collision. Straw had an insurance policy with Shelter which included UIM coverage.

On February 11, 2009, Shelter filed a “Petition for Declaratory Judgment” in the Circuit Court of Jasper County, Missouri. The only legal issue presented by the pleadings was whether Shelter’s “MISSOURI UNDERINSURED MOTORIST ENDORSEMENT” provided any UIM coverage to Straw for the collision that occurred on December 14, 2007.

On March 25, 2009, the parties filed a “Joint Stipulation of Facts” and agreed to submit the legal issues to the trial court through separate motions for summary judgment. The parties stipulated that only two results could be reached by the trial court with respect to the Shelter policy. Those results were: (1) the Shelter policy provided no coverage to Straw; or (2) the Shelter policy provided coverage to Straw in the amount of $100,000. The Joint Stipulation of Facts included: “the value of [Straw’s] damages for bodily injury as it relates to his claim against [Heis-kell] is equal to or exceeds $200,000.”

On November 9, 2009, the trial court sustained Straw’s motion for summary judgment and found Shelter owed Straw the UIM coverage limits of $100,000. The trial court found “[a] layperson’s reasonable interpretation of the Shelter policy would be that any offset would come from the insured’s amount of total damages and not the policy limits.” Shelter appeals this judgment.

Shelter contends that the “LIMITS OF OUR LIABILITY”1 provision of their policy includes a set-off provision which permits it to reduce its coverage by the amount Heiskell, the responsible tortfea-sor, paid to Straw. Straw contends Shelter must pay the full $100,000 of coverage under the underinsured portion of the policy. The determinative issue here is whether the set-off provision in the Shelter policy is ambiguous, which would require payment of the $100,000 in UIM coverage.

Standard of Review

We review a grant of summary judgment on a de novo basis and view the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993); Ameri[595]*595can Std. Ins. Co. v. Hargrave, 34 S.W.3d 88, 89 (Mo. banc 2000). Summary judgment will be upheld on appeal if there is no genuine issue of material fact and movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. ITT Commercial Fin., 854 S.W.2d at 377.

The interpretation of an insurance policy is a question of law that this Court also determines de novo. Jones v. Mid-Century Insurance Co., 287 S.W.3d 687, 690 (Mo. banc 2009); Ritchie v. Allied Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 307 S.W.3d 132 (Mo. banc 2009). “ ‘In construing the terms of an insurance policy, this Court applies ‘the meaning which would be attached by an ordinary person of average understanding if purchasing insurance,’ and resolves ambiguities in favor of the insured.’ ” Id. (quoting Seeck v. Geico General Ins. Co., 212 S.W.3d 129, 132 (Mo. banc 2007)).

The Shelter Policy

Shelter’s “AUTO POLICY DECLARATIONS AND POLICY SCHEDULE” (the “declaration sheet”) states:

THE FOLLOWING ENDORSEMENTS ARE A PART OF THIS POLICY AND ARE ATTACHED:
A-577.5-A UNDERINSURED MOTORISTS $100,000 PER PERSON/ $300,000 PER ACCIDENT

In examining the “MISSOURI UN-DERINSURED MOTORIST ENDORSEMENT,” referenced in the declaration sheet, the endorsement number at the top right of the page refers to “Limits of Liability” and underneath that line, it recites it is the “Same as Coverage A Limits[.]” The declaration sheet for the “COVERAGE A BODILY INJURY,” is $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each accident.

The “INSURING AGREEMENT” on the endorsement page states:

If:

(a) an insured sustains bodily injury as a result of an accident involving the use of an underinsured motor vehicle; and
(b) the owner or operator of that un-derinsured motor vehicle is legally obligated to pay some or all of the insured’s damages,
we will pay the uncompensated damages, subject to the limit of our liability stated in this coverage.

On that same page, the “ADDITIONAL AND REPLACEMENT DEFINITIONS USED [IN] THIS ENDORSEMENT” define “Uncompensated damages” to mean: “the portion of the damages that exceeds the total amount paid or payable to an insured by, or on behalf of, all persons legally obligated to pay those damages.”

The “LIMITS OF OUR LIABILITY” portion of the endorsement provides:

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(4) The limits are reduced by the amount paid, or payable, to the insured for damages by, or for, any person who:
(a) is legally liable for the bodily injury to that insured; or
(b) may be held legally liable for the bodily injury to that insured.

No Ambiguity in Set-Off Provisions

Shelter argues its policy language is unambiguous and enforceable and, therefore, it is entitled to set-off against the $100,000 payment Straw received from Farmers on behalf of Heiskell. Straw contends the Shelter policy language is ambiguous as its set-off provision provides coverage in one section and removes it in another.

During oral argument, Straw recognized this Court has the unenviable task of reconciling this Court’s decision in Lynch v. [596]*596Shelter Mutual Insurance Co., 325 S.W.3d 531 (Mo.App. S.D.2010), with the trial court's judgment in this case. Lynch

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Related

Beshears v. Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.
468 S.W.3d 408 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2015)
Wasson v. Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.
358 S.W.3d 113 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)
Long v. Shelter Insurance Companies
351 S.W.3d 692 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)
Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. v. Straw
334 S.W.3d 592 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
334 S.W.3d 592, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 70, 2011 WL 281743, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shelter-mutual-insurance-co-v-straw-moctapp-2011.