St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Gilmore

796 P.2d 915, 165 Ariz. 113, 55 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 58, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 74
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 8, 1990
DocketNo. 1 CA-CV 88-318
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 796 P.2d 915 (St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Gilmore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Gilmore, 796 P.2d 915, 165 Ariz. 113, 55 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 58, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 74 (Ark. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

SHELLEY, Judge.

Is an insurer providing general commercial liability insurance required to offer underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage pursuant to A.R.S. § 20-259.01(0)? The trial court answered in the affirmative and entered summary judgment in favor of the insured accordingly. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse and remand.

The facts, for purposes of appeal, are undisputed. Appellee Sharon Gilmore was the executive secretary and managed the day-to-day operations of the Arizona Association for Industrial Development (AAID). While driving her car during the course of her employment, Gilmore was seriously injured in an automobile accident caused by another driver. She recovered $50,000 in liability insurance from the other driver, as well as $50,000 in underinsured motorist coverage from her insurance policy covering the car she was driving. She then turned to AAID’s insurer, appellant St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (St. Paul) seeking additional UIM coverage. The St. Paul policy did not, however, include UIM coverage. There is no dispute that Gilmore’s injuries exceed the $100,000 she has thus far received.

The St. Paul policy explains in its introduction that it is a “multicover policy” which is intended to protect AAID’s business property and to protect AAID against claims made by others. It provides standard fire insurance, property insurance and general liability coverage, including bodily injury and property damage, all in the single limit amount of one million dollars. In addition, the policy includes liability protection for “non-owned” automobiles, which provides “excess” coverage against bodily injury and property claims arising from automobile accidents involving AAID employees driving their own vehicles while on AAID business. Although the policy expressly states that “the owner of a covered auto under any circumstances” is not protected, St. Paul has conceded for purposes of appeal that Gilmore was a protected person under the policy at the time of the accident.

St. Paul filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that the policy does not provide UIM coverage for Sharon Gilmore and that St. Paul was not obligated to offer that coverage pursuant to A.R.S. § 20-259.01(C). It then moved for summary judgment and Gilmore filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. Initially, the [115]*115trial court granted St. Paul s motion. Gilmore filed a motion for reconsideration. The trial court reversed its order granting summary judgment in favor of St. Paul. Furthermore, the trial court granted and entered summary judgment in favor of Gilmore. St. Paul appealed.

The question on appeal is whether St. Paul was required by A.R.S. § 20-259.01(0) to offer UIM coverage when it issued the policy to AAID. If it was required to do so, but did not, it is undisputed that the coverage is imputed as a matter of law.

St. Paul argues that it was not required to offer UIM coverage because the AAID policy was neither an automobile liability nor a motor vehicle liability policy and that only those types of policies are required to comply with A.R.S. § 20-259.01(0). More specifically, St. Paul argues that A.R.S. §§ 20-259.01 and 28-1170 must be read in pari materia, and that, when they are so read, the only reasonable conclusion is that its policy was not required to comply with A.R.S. § 20-259.01.

Gilmore responds that recent Arizona case law forbids reading these two statutes together. The St. Paul policy, she argues, clearly provided liability coverage for accidents involving automobiles, and was therefore an automobile or motor vehicle liability policy. Thus, she continues, St. Paul was accordingly required by statute to offer UIM coverage. Since it did not, Gilmore concludes, the coverage must be imputed. Gilmore also cites recent Arizona case law that A.R.S. § 20-259.01 is to be broadly construed in favor of coverage. See Brown v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 163 Ariz. 323, 788 P.2d 56 (1989). Both parties refer to conflicting cases from other jurisdictions addressing this issue in the context of umbrella or excess liability policies. Before discussing these cases, however, we first look to Arizona law.

Statutory Construction

This appeal can essentially be resolved on the question of whether the St.-Paul policy is an “automobile liability” or a “motor vehicle liability” policy within the meaning of A.R.S. § 20-259.01(0), the Uninsured Motorist Act (UMA). That statute states, in pertinent part:

C. Every insurer writing automobile liability or motor vehicle liability policies, as provided in subsection A of this section shall also make available to the named insured thereunder and shall by written notice offer the insured and at the request of the insured shall include within the policy underinsurance motorist coverage which extends to and covers all persons insured under the policy, in limits not less than the liability limits for bodily injury or death contained within the policy....

The UMA does not define “automobile liability” or “motor vehicle liability” policy. Gilmore maintains that these phrases are not ambiguous and are self-explanatory. Therefore, she concludes, there is no need to resort to rules of statutory construction to determine their meaning. We disagree, and find it is unclear from a reading of § 20-259.01(0) alone whether the St. Paul policy is the type of policy contemplated by the statute. We therefore turn to the rules of statutory construction to determine whether it is.

The term “motor vehicle liability policy” is defined in A.R.S. § 28-1170, which is part of the Safety Responsibility Act (SRA), formerly known as the Financial Responsibility Act. A.R.S. § 28-1101 et seq. A.R.S. § 28-1170 sets forth the following requirements for a motor vehicle liability policy:

“Motor vehicle liability policy” defined
A. A “motor vehicle liability policy” as the term is used in this chapter means an owner’s or an operator’s policy of liability insurance, ...
B. The owner’s policy of liability insurance must comply with the following requirements:
1.

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Related

Jalas v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.
505 N.W.2d 811 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1993)
St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Gilmore
812 P.2d 977 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
796 P.2d 915, 165 Ariz. 113, 55 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 58, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 74, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-paul-fire-marine-insurance-v-gilmore-arizctapp-1990.