Stockdale v. Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co.

390 F. Supp. 3d 603
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 17, 2019
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 19-845
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 390 F. Supp. 3d 603 (Stockdale v. Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stockdale v. Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., 390 F. Supp. 3d 603 (E.D. Pa. 2019).

Opinion

Wendy Beetlestone, J.

This case presents an unresolved question of Pennsylvania law: What effect should be given to Gallagher v. GEICO Indemnity Co. , 201 A.3d 131 (Pa. 2019), a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that held a particular insurance exclusion-called the "household exclusion"- violated the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicular Financial Responsibility Law, 75 Pa. C.S.A. §§ 1701 et seq. ("MVFRL")? Plaintiff argues that, as is generally the case, the holding should be applied to cases brought after Gallagher was decided, but concerning events that predate the decision. Defendant, however, argues that an exception to that general rule is in order here and that Gallagher should be applied only to cases arising out of events that postdate the decision. As explained below, no exception is warranted here and Defendant's motion to dismiss the Complaint will be denied accordingly.

I. LEGAL STANDARDS

"To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' " Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). When analyzing a motion to dismiss, the Court must "construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and determine whether, under any reasonable reading of the complaint, the plaintiff may be entitled to relief." Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside , 578 F.3d 203, 210 (3d Cir. 2009). "[U]nder Rule 12(b)(6), the defendant has the burden of showing no claim has been stated." Kehr Packages, Inc. v. Fidelcor, Inc. , 926 F.2d 1406, 1409 (3d Cir. 1991).

Where, as here, a federal court has authority to hear a suit by virtue of diversity jurisdiction, the court must apply state substantive law. Erie R.R. v. Tompkins , 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). "When interpreting state law, [federal courts] follow a state's highest court; if that state's highest court has not provided guidance, [federal courts] are charged with predicting how that court would resolve the issue.... tak[ing] into consideration: (1) what that court has said in related areas; (2) the decisional law of the state intermediate courts; (3) federal cases interpreting state law; and (4) decisions from other jurisdictions that have discussed the issue." In re Energy Future Holdings Corp. , 842 F.3d 247, 253-54 (3d Cir. 2016) (quoting Illinois Nat. Ins. Co. v. Wyndham Worldwide Operations, Inc. , 653 F.3d 225, 231 (3d Cir. 2011) ).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Kayla Stockdale, is a Pennsylvania resident who, at all times relevant here, resided with her parents, Mark and Jacqueline Sanders. Both Plaintiff and her parents held car insurance policies with Defendant, Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance *606Company. Plaintiff's policy (the "Stockdale Policy") provided $ 25,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for the one vehicle covered by the policy;1 her parent's policy (the "Sanders Policy") provided $ 100,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for each of the three vehicles covered by that policy-none of which were the vehicle covered by the Stockdale Policy. The Sanders also paid to "stack" their underinsured motorist coverage, meaning the Sanders elected to combine the insurance coverage of individual vehicles within their policy ("intra-policy stacking") and across policies ("inter-policy stacking") to increase the amount of total coverage available.2

On June 10, 2017, while riding as a passenger in the vehicle covered by the Stockdale Policy, another driver, Ronald Pagliei, collided with Plaintiff's vehicle. She suffered severe and permanent injuries as a result of the accident, and sought recovery for those injuries. Plaintiff first made a claim against Pagliei. With the approval of Defendant, she settled that claim for $ 100,000, the limit of liability coverage under Pagliei's policy. Plaintiff also made a claim for underinsured motorist coverage under the Stockdale Policy. Defendant approved the claim and provided her with $ 25,000, the limit of underinsured motorist coverage under the Stockdale Policy.

The combined recovery, however, was insufficient to meet Plaintiff's medical needs. Accordingly, on February 7, 2018, Plaintiff made a claim under the Sanders Policy for underinsured motorist coverage, on the ground that the Sanders Policy provided that Defendant "will pay damages to an insured person for bodily injury which an insured person is legally entitled to recover," and defined "insured person" to include "any resident relative" of Mark Sanders. Because she lived with her parents at the time of the accident, Plaintiff claimed she was eligible to stack the underinsured coverage provided in the Sanders Policy with the underinsured coverage provided in the Stockdale Policy.

On February 14, 2018, Defendant denied the claim. It premised the denial on a provision of the Sanders Policy called the "household exclusion," which provided that:

Allstate will not pay any damages an insured person is legally entitled to recover because of ...

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Bluebook (online)
390 F. Supp. 3d 603, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stockdale-v-allstate-fire-cas-ins-co-paed-2019.