State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Marquez

2001 NMCA 053, 28 P.3d 1132, 130 N.M. 591
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 11, 2001
Docket21,164
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2001 NMCA 053 (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Marquez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Marquez, 2001 NMCA 053, 28 P.3d 1132, 130 N.M. 591 (N.M. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

PICKARD, Judge.

{1} This case presents us with the opportunity to address a question left unanswered by Dominguez v. Dairyland Ins. Co., 1997-NMCA-065, 123 N.M. 448, 942 P.2d 191, in which we held that territorial limitations on uninsured motorist coverage are valid when the limitations apply to the policy as a whole. In this ease, the territorial limitations are applicable only to the provisions for uninsured motorist benefits. Marquez appeals from an order granting summary judgment on State Farm’s declaratory judgment action, in which State Farm sought a judgment that the territorial limitations on uninsured motorist coverage in Marquez’s policy expressly precluded Marquez from receiving uninsured motorist benefits for injuries sustained in an accident that occurred in Mexico. Marquez raises two issues on appeal: (1) whether New Mexico public policy requires that automobile insurance policies provide uninsured motorist coverage that is territorially coextensive with liability coverage and (2) whether the language used by State Farm to limit uninsured motorist coverage was clear and unambiguous. We hold that New Mexico public policy generally requires that uninsured motorist coverage be territorially coextensive with liability coverage. Because of our disposition of the first issue, it is unnecessary for us to reach Marquez’s second issue.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

{2} While traveling between Juarez and Palomas, Mexico, Marquez was injured when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with an automobile driven by an uninsured motorist. The parties agree that the accident occurred within fifty miles of the United States border. Marquez filed a claim for uninsured motorist benefits with State Farm. State Farm denied Marquez’s claim on the grounds that Marquez’s policy expressly limited uninsured motorist coverage to the United States, its territories and possessions, and Canada. The policy reads as follows:

WHEN AND WHERE COVERAGE APPLIES
Where Coverage Applies The coverages you choose apply:
1. In the United States of America, its territories and possessions or Canada; or
2. While the insured vehicle is being shipped between their ports.
The liability, medical payments and physical damage coverage also apply in Mexico within fifty miles of the United States border. A physical damage coverage loss in Mexico is determined on the basis of cost at the nearest United States point.
Death, dismemberment and loss of sight and loss of earning coverages apply anywhere in the world.

{3} State Farm filed a complaint for declaratory judgment. State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plain language of the policy excluded uninsured motorist coverage in Mexico. Marquez filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, alleging that New Mexico public policy required that uninsured motorist coverage be territorial coextensive with liability coverage. A hearing was held. The trial court found in favor of State Farm, granting State Farm’s motion and denying Marquez’s cross-motion. Marquez appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

{4} Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Self v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 1998-NMSC-046, ¶6, 126 N.M. 396, 970 P.2d 582. Because the issue before us requires us to determine the legislature’s intent with respect to uninsured motorist coverage, we apply a de novo standard of review. See Dominguez, 1997-NMCA-065, ¶ 4,123 N.M. 448, 942 P.2d 191. DISCUSSION

{5} The uninsured motorist statute, NMSA 1978, § 66-5-301 (1983), provides:

A. No ... automobile liability policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law ... arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle shall be delivered or issued for delivery in New Mexico with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in New Mexico unless coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto in minimum limits ... as set forth in Section 66-5-215 NMSA 1978 and such higher limits as may be desired by the insured, but up to the limits of liability specified in bodily injury and property damage liability provisions of the insured’s policy, for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles____

(Emphasis added).

{6} Section 66-5-301 “embodies a public policy of New Mexico to make uninsured motorist coverage a part of every automobile liability insurance policy issued in this state, with certain limited exceptions.” Romero v. Dairyland Ins. Co., 111 N.M. 154, 156, 803 P.2d 243, 245 (1990). The purpose of the statute is to place an injured policyholder in the same position as the policyholder would have been in if the uninsured motorist had possessed liability insurance. See Chavez v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 87 N.M. 327, 329, 533 P.2d 100, 102 (1975). Because the purpose of the statute is remedial, we interpret its language liberally to further its objectives. See Romero, 111 N.M. at 156, 803 P.2d at 245. Nonetheless, we recognize that “uninsured motorist coverage is not intended to provide coverage in every uncompensated situation,” State Farm Auto. Ins. Co. v. Ovitz, 117 N.M. 547, 550, 873 P.2d 979, 982 (1994) (internal quotation and citation omitted), and that the policy of liberal interpretation, “absent a clear statutory provision to the contrary, may not negate reasonable and unambiguous policy limitations.” Dominguez, 1997-NMCA-065, ¶8, 123 N.M. 448, 942 P.2d 191.

{7} In light of these rules of statutory construction, we conclude that the legislature intended for uninsured motorist coverage to apply in the same amounts and in the same territory as a particular policy provides for liability coverage. Section 66-5-301 refers to liability coverage as the measure of a policy’s requirements for uninsured motorist coverage, recognizing that an insured may desire to purchase a policy that provides greater protection than is required by law. Id (stating that uninsured motorist coverage must be provided “in minimum limits ... as set forth in [the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act] and such higher limits as may be desired by the insured”). Given that the purpose of Section 66-5-301 is to protect an insured as if the uninsured motorist had liability coverage, see Chavez, 87 N.M. at 329, 533 P.2d at 102, and that the amount of uninsured motorist coverage depends on the amount of liability coverage, we conclude that the legislature also intended that the geographical scope of uninsured motorist coverage depends on and must be equal to the scope of liability coverage.

{8} Our holding is supported by the reasoning of Dominguez.

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Bluebook (online)
2001 NMCA 053, 28 P.3d 1132, 130 N.M. 591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-v-marquez-nmctapp-2001.