Wells v. Travelers Ins.

26 Va. Cir. 296, 1992 Va. Cir. LEXIS 571
CourtRichmond County Circuit Court
DecidedFebruary 7, 1992
DocketCase No. LT-4086-4
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 26 Va. Cir. 296 (Wells v. Travelers Ins.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Richmond County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wells v. Travelers Ins., 26 Va. Cir. 296, 1992 Va. Cir. LEXIS 571 (Va. Super. Ct. 1992).

Opinion

By Judge Randall G. Johnson

This case is before the court on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. At issue is whether the Supreme Court’s holding in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Major, 239 Va. 375, 389 S.E.2d 307 (1990), has been abrogated by the 1991 amendments to Va. Code § 38.2-124(B). All of the material facts have been stipulated to by the parties, and summary judgment is appropriate.

In September, 1991, plaintiff was injured when the motorcycle he was operating was involved in a collision with another motor vehicle. At the time of the collision, plaintiff was a named insured under a policy issued by defendant, The Travelers Insurance Company. That policy provided medical payment coverage pursuant to Va. Code Section 38.2-124(B) in the sum of $5,000.00 per person for each of three motor vehicles listed on and insured under the policy. The relevant language of the policy relating to medical payment coverage is as follows:

[The company agrees to] pay all reasonable expenses incurred within one year from the date of accident for necessary medical, surgical, chiropractic, X-ray and dental services, including prosthetic devices, and necessary ambulance, hospital, professional nursing, and funeral services:
Division 1. To or for the named insured and each relative who sustains bodily injury, sickness or disease, in-[297]*297eluding death resulting therefrom, hereinafter called “bodily injury,” caused by accident:
(a) while occupying the owned automobile,
(b) while occupying a non-owned automobile, but only if such person has, or reasonably believes he has, the permission of the owner to use the automobile and the use is within the scope of such permission, or
(c) while not occupying a motor vehicle, through being struck by an automobile or trailer of any type.

Plaintiff owned the motorcycle he was operating at the time of his accident. The motorcycle was not, however, listed as an “owned” automobile on the insurance policy. Based upon the definitions contained in the policy, the parties have stipulated that while the term “automobile” as used in the policy includes motorcycles generally, the motorcycle operated by plaintiff at the time of his injury was neither an “owned” vehicle nor a “non-owned” vehicle under the policy. Thus, if plaintiff is limited to the coverage specifically stated above, he cannot recover since (a) he was not occupying an owned vehicle; (b) he was not occupying a non-owned vehicle; and (c) he was not “not occupying a motor vehicle.” Accordingly, if coverage exists, it exists by virtue of Va. Code § 38.2-124(B).

Section 38.2-124(B) provides:

Any policy of “motor vehicle insurance” covering legal liability of the insured under subdivision 2 of subsection A and covering liability arising under subsection A of § 38.2-2206 may include appropriate provisions obligating the insurer to pay medical expense and loss of income benefits arising out of the death or injury of any person, as set forth in subsection A of Section 38.2 — 2201. Any such policy of motor vehicle insurance may include appropriate provisions obligating the insurer to pay weekly indemnity or other specific benefits to persons who are injured and specific death benefits to dependents, beneficiaries or personal representatives of persons who are killed, if the injury or death is caused by accident and sustained while in or upon, entering or alighting from, or through being struck by a motor vehicle while not occupying a motor vehicle. These provisions shall obligate the insurer to [298]*298make payment regardless of any legal liability of the insured or any other person. (Emphasis added.)

Section 38.2-2201(A), which was also amended in 1991, provides:

Section 38.2-2201. Provisions for payment of medical expense and loss of income benefits. — A. Upon request of an insured, each insurer licensed in this Commonwealth issuing or delivering any policy or contract of bodily injury or property damage liability insurance covering liability arising from the ownership, maintenance or use of any motor vehicle shall provide on payment of the premium, as a minimum coverage (i) to persons occupying the insured motor vehicle; and (ii) to the named insured and, while resident of the named insured’s household, the spouse and relatives of the named insured while in or upon, entering or alighting from or through being struck by a motor vehicle while not occupying a motor vehicle, the following health care and disability benefits for each accident:
1. All reasonable and necessary expenses for medical, chiropractic, hospital, dental, surgical, ambulance, prosthetic and rehabilitation services, and funeral expenses, resulting from the accident and incurred within three years after the date of the accident, up to $2,000 per person; however, if the insured does not elect to purchase such limit, the insurer and insured may agree to any other limit; and
2. If the person is usually engaged in a remunerative occupation, an amount equal to the loss of income incurred after the date of the accident resulting from injuries received in the accident up to $100 per week during the period from the first workday lost as a result of the accident up to the date the person is able to return to his usual occupation. However, the period shall not extend beyond one year from the date of the accident.1

[299]*299It is plaintiff’s position that the phrase at the end of the first sentence of § 38.2-124(B) — “as set forth in subsection A of § 38.2-2201” — requires Travelers to cover the accident in which he was involved. Specifically, plaintiff claims that that phrase incorporates Section 38.2-2201 (A)’s statement of injuries which must be covered, to wit: all injuries incurred “while in or upon, entering or alighting from or through being struck by a motor vehicle while not occupying a motor vehicle.” Since plaintiff was injured while upon a motor vehicle, even though such vehicle was not technically an “owned” or “non-owned” vehicle, incorporation of § 38.2-2201(A)’s statement of covered injuries would mean that plaintiff’s injuries are covered here. On the other hand, Travelers argues that the subject phrase of § 38.2-124(B) refers not to § 38.2-2201(A)’s statement of covered injuries, but only to the types of medical expenses and loss of income benefits which must be provided. In making this argument, Travelers points out that prior to the 1991 amendments, § 38.1-124(B) provided as follows:

B. 1. Any policy of “motor vehicle insurance” covering legal liability of the insured under subdivision 2 of subsection A and covering liability arising under subsection A of Section 38.2-2206 may include appropriate provisions obligating the insurer to pay medical, chiropractic, hospital, surgical, and funeral expenses arising out of the death or injury of any person.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 Va. Cir. 296, 1992 Va. Cir. LEXIS 571, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wells-v-travelers-ins-vaccrichmondcty-1992.