Terrence Domin v. Shelby Insurance

761 N.E.2d 746, 326 Ill. App. 3d 688, 260 Ill. Dec. 563, 2001 Ill. App. LEXIS 867
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 21, 2001
Docket1-01-1143
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 761 N.E.2d 746 (Terrence Domin v. Shelby Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Terrence Domin v. Shelby Insurance, 761 N.E.2d 746, 326 Ill. App. 3d 688, 260 Ill. Dec. 563, 2001 Ill. App. LEXIS 867 (Ill. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

JUSTICE WOLFSON

delivered the opinion of the court:

The question before us is whether uninsured motorist coverage under a particular insurance policy could be “stacked” or aggregated. The answer seems to come down to how many times the policy’s limits of liability appear on its declarations page. The trial court entered summary judgment for the insureds. We reverse the trial court’s decision and remand this cause with directions to enter summary judgment for the insurance company.

FACTS

Terrence and Marie Domin (the Domins) insured two cars under an automobile policy issued by Shelby Insurance Company (Shelby). The policy provided uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage to the Domins. On January 21, 1998, Terrence Domin was driving one of the insured vehicles when he was injured in a collision with an oncoming car.

Terrence later filed a lawsuit in the circuit court of Cook County against the owner, driver, and passenger of the other car (the underlying suit). That lawsuit was based on negligence. Marie Domin, who was neither involved nor injured in the accident, joined her husband’s lawsuit. She asserted claims for loss of society due to his injuries. 1

The defendants in the underlying suit were uninsured, so the Domins turned to Shelby. The Domins requested Shelby provide uninsured motorist coverage under their insurance policy No. IA 8537640. That policy provided, in part:

“PART C — UNINSURED MOTORISTS COVERAGE
INSURING A. We will pay compensatory damages which-an insured is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury:
1. Sustained by an insured; and
2. Caused by an accident.”

The policy defined “bodily injury” as “bodily harm, sickness or disease, including death that results.”

The uninsured motorist coverage provision was subject to another provision titled “Limit of Liability.” It'provided:

“SPLIT Uninsured Motorists SCHEDULE
UNINSURED Coverage $ See Declarations each person
MOTORISTS $ See Declarations each accident
LIMITS
The first paragraph of the Limit provision in Part C is replaced by the following:
LIMIT OF LIABILITY
The limit of liability shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations for each person for Uninsured Motorists Coverage is our maximum limit of liability for all damages, including damages for care, loss of services or death, arising out of bodily injury sustained by any one person in any one accident. Subject to this limit for each person, the limit of liability shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations for each accident for Uninsured Motorists Coverage is our maximum limit of liability for all damages for bodily injury resulting from any one accident. This is the most we will pay regardless of the number of:
1. Insureds;
2. Claims made;
3. Vehicles or premiums shown in the Declarations; or
4. Vehicles involved in the accident.”

With respect to uninsured motorist coverage, the policy’s declarations page showed the following “Limits of Liability”:

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In response to the Domins’ request, Shelby offered to pay them $100,000 — the per-person bodily injury limit of the policy’s uninsured motorist coverage. The Domins rejected Shelby’s $100,000 offer.

The Domins do not question the clarity of the “LIMIT OF LIABILITY” provision. There is no ambiguity to it. It clearly means what it says — the limit of liability shown in the schedule or in the declarations for each insured who receives bodily injury is the most the company will pay, no matter how many claims or vehicles are covered. But, they say, ambiguity arises when the “LIMIT OF LIABILITY” provision is read with the declarations page. That is, the policy can reasonably be interpreted to allow liability limits of the two covered vehicles to be “stacked” or aggregated, providing a total maximum coverage of $200,000. The Domins contend they must be the beneficiaries of ambiguity in the policy language.

Of course, Shelby denies the policy is ambiguous. It says the “LIMITS OF LIABILITY” provision clearly prohibits stacking. That is, says Shelby, the policy limit for one bodily injury is $100,000, regardless of the number of vehicles insured by the Domins, and here there is only one bodily injury.

The Domins filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the circuit court of Cook County.

On plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, the trial court entered judgment for the Domins. The court ruled that under Yates v. Farmers Automobile Insurance Ass’n, 311 Ill. App. 3d 797, 724 N.E.2d 1042 (2000), the Domins were entitled to “stack” the “$100,000 each person” limits of uninsured motorist coverage under the automobile policy they purchased from Shelby because the Domins paid premiums for two vehicles.

This appeal followed.

DECISION

The trial judge felt obligated to follow Yates v. Farmers Automobile Insurance Ass’n, 311 Ill. App. 3d 797, 724 N.E.2d 1042 (2000). We, however, do not.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is proper when the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, reveal there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See 735 ILCS 5/2 — 1005(c) (West 1998); American Family Mutual Insurance Co. v. Hinde, 302 Ill. App. 3d 227, 231, 705 N.E.2d 956 (1999). We review de novo a trial court’s order granting summary judgment. Pekin Insurance Co. v. Estate of Ritter, 322 Ill. App. 3d 1004, 1004-05, 750 N.E.2d 1285 (2001).

STACKING

Anti-stacking provisions in insurance policies are unenforceable when the language employed is unclear or ambiguous. Grzeszczak v. Illinois Farmers Insurance Co., 168 Ill. 2d 216, 221, 659 N.E.2d 952 (1995).

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Bluebook (online)
761 N.E.2d 746, 326 Ill. App. 3d 688, 260 Ill. Dec. 563, 2001 Ill. App. LEXIS 867, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/terrence-domin-v-shelby-insurance-illappct-2001.