Westra v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

2013 WI App 93, 835 N.W.2d 280, 349 Wis. 2d 409, 2013 WL 2990656, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 512
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJune 18, 2013
DocketNo. 2013AP48
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2013 WI App 93 (Westra v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westra v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, 2013 WI App 93, 835 N.W.2d 280, 349 Wis. 2d 409, 2013 WL 2990656, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 512 (Wis. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

STARK, J.

¶ 1. This case involves a dispute be[412]*412tween Joseph Westra and his automobile insurer, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, over the stacking, or adding together, of underinsured motorist coverage limits. Specifically, we must determine whether a provision in Westra's insurance policies that limited the stacking of underinsured motorist coverage to the coverage limits for three vehicles was permissible under Wisconsin law on July 7, 2011, the date of the underlying accident.

¶ 2. Wisconsin Stat. § 631.43(1) generally prohibits insurance policies from including anti-stacking provisions.1 In contrast, Wis. Stat. § 632.32(6)(d), which was in effect from November 2009 until November 2011 and applied specifically to underinsured motorist coverage, allowed insurers to "limit the number of motor vehicles for which coverage limits may be added to 3 vehicles." The circuit court determined these statutes were irreconcilable. It therefore applied the more specific statute, § 632.32(6)(d), and concluded the anti-stacking provision in State Farm's policies was permissible at the time of the accident. As a result, the court concluded that Westra, who had already recovered the underinsured motorist coverage limits for three vehicles, was barred from recovering the coverage limits for two additional vehicles that were insured by State Farm. We agree with the circuit court's reasoning. We therefore affirm the summary judgment in State Farm's favor.

BACKGROUND

¶ 3. The facts are undisputed. Westra was injured when a motorcycle he was driving collided with a vehicle driven by Andrew Kerrigan. After the accident, [413]*413Westra recovered insurance proceeds under four separate policies. First, he recovered the $150,000 limit of Kerrigan's automobile liability policy, which was issued by American Family Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Second, he recovered the $100,000 underinsured motorist limit of a policy that Acuity, a Mutual Company, issued to the owner of the motorcycle he was driving. Third, Westra recovered the $100,000 underinsured motorist limit and the $10,000 medical payments limit of an Acuity policy on a pickup truck he owned. Fourth, Westra recovered the $100,000 underinsured motorist limit and the $10,000 medical payments limit of a State Farm policy issued to him on a 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. In total, Westra recovered $470,000 in insurance proceeds.

¶ 4. Westra also sought to recover the underinsured motorist limits of two additional State Farm policies, which were issued to him on a 2000 Chevrolet pickup truck and a 1999 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Each of those policies provided for $100,000 in underinsured motorist coverage. State Farm denied coverage under both policies, based on the following anti-stacking provision:

1. If Underinsured Motor Vehicle Coverage provided by this policy and:

a. if underinsured motor vehicle coverage provided by one or more other sources also apply to the same accident, then the maximum amount that may be paid from all sources combined is the sum of the highest applicable limits corresponding to the three underinsured motor vehicle coverages providing those highest applicable limits; and
b. if one or more other vehicle policies issued to you or any resident relative by the State Farm Companies [414]*414apply to the same bodily injury, then we may choose one or more of those vehicle policies from which to make payment.

¶ 5. Westra then filed the instant lawsuit against State Farm, seeking $200,000 in underinsured motorist coverage. State Farm moved for summary judgment. The parties stipulated Westra had suffered bodily injury damages that would entitle him to recover at least $200,000 in additional underinsured motorist coverage. They also agreed that the anti-stacking provision in State Farm's two remaining policies unambiguously barred Westra from recovering those policies' underinsured motorist limits because he had already received payment under three underinsured motorist coverages with equal or greater limits. The disputed issue was whether the anti-stacking provision was permissible under Wis. Stat. §§ 631.43(1) and 632.32(6)(d).

¶ 6. Wisconsin Stat. § 631.43(1) generally prohibits anti-stacking provisions in insurance policies, stating:

When 2 or more policies promise to indemnify an insured against the same loss, no "other insurance" provisions of the policy may reduce the aggregate protection of the insured below the lesser of the actual insured loss suffered by the insured or the total indemnification promised by the policies if there were no "other insurance" provisions. The policies may by their terms define the extent to which each is primary and each excess, but if the policies contain inconsistent terms on that point, the insurers shall be jointly and severally liable to the insured on any coverage where the terms are inconsistent, each to the full amount of coverage it provided. Settlement among the insurers shall not alter any rights of the insured.

[415]*415However, Wis. Stat. § 632.32(6)(d), which applies specifically to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages, states:

No policy may provide that, regardless of the number of policies involved, vehicles involved, persons covered, claims made, vehicles or premiums shown on the policy, or premiums paid, the limits for any uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage under the policy may not be added to the limits for similar coverage applying to other motor vehicles to determine the limit of insurance coverage available for bodily injury or death suffered by a person in any one accident, except that a policy may limit the number of motor vehicles for which the limits for coverage may be added to three vehicles.

(Emphasis added.)

¶ 7. The circuit court concluded Wis. Stat. §§ 631.43(1) and 632.32(6)(d) were irreconcilable because the former prohibited anti-stacking provisions in all insurance policies, but the latter allowed insurers to limit the stacking of underinsured motorist coverage to the coverage limits for three vehicles. Because the statutes could not be harmonized, the court decided the more specific statute, § 632.32(6)(d), should govern. The court further concluded the plain language of § 632.32(6)(d) unambiguously permitted the anti-stacking provision in State Farm's policies. The court therefore granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm, and Westra appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶ 8. We review a grant of summary judgment independently, using the same methodology as the circuit court. Hardy v. Hoefferle, 2007 WI App 264, ¶ 6, 306 Wis. 2d 513, 743 N.W.2d 843. Summary judgment is [416]*416appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Wis. Stat. § 802.08(2). Here, the facts are undisputed, leaving only an issue of law for our review.

¶ 9.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2013 WI App 93, 835 N.W.2d 280, 349 Wis. 2d 409, 2013 WL 2990656, 2013 Wisc. App. LEXIS 512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westra-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-wisctapp-2013.