Withrow v. Pickard

1995 OK 120, 905 P.2d 800, 1995 Okla. LEXIS 140, 1995 WL 648946
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 7, 1995
Docket81966
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 1995 OK 120 (Withrow v. Pickard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Withrow v. Pickard, 1995 OK 120, 905 P.2d 800, 1995 Okla. LEXIS 140, 1995 WL 648946 (Okla. 1995).

Opinions

WATT, Justice:

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1987, Oklahoma Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Company (OFU) issued an insurance policy to W.E. Withrow, Jr., and his wife, Patricia, covering their family’s two vehicles. The policy provided for bodily injury liability limits of $25,000.00 per person and $50,000.00 per accident (25/50). When Mr. Withrow applied for the policy, he requested uninsured motorist (UM) coverage in amounts equal to his liability limits. The [802]*802application Withrow read and signed stated that he selected the desired UM coverage:

... with the full understanding that, regardless of the number of vehicles described in this policy, only one premium is charged for Uninsured Motorist Coverage and therefore only one limit of protection applies to any claim arising out of any one accident to which this coverage is applicable.

The insurance policy subsequently issued to the Withrows also contained a “Limit of Liability” provision which clearly stated that OFU’s liability was limited to single UM coverage, regardless of the number of vehicles insured under the policy, when only one premium for UM coverage was charged.

During the ensuing three years, the With-rows replaced their original two cars with two others. Both the liability and UM limits of their insurance policy remained the same after each transaction. On June 4, 1991, the Withrows added a third car to their policy. The endorsement form listed W.E. and/or Patricia Withrow as the named insureds and contained the same policy, number as the Withrows’ existing insurance policy. Larry Withrow, on behalf of his father, indicated on the form that he desired 25/50 coverage for bodily injury liability limits for the new car. The front of the form also included a paragraph setting forth the options for accepting or rejecting UM coverage and ended with the sentence, “Please read and initial the explanation of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on the reverse side of this form.” The following statement appeared below that paragraph:

I have read the explanation of the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in the paragraph above and on the reverse side of this form and understand what the coverage is and the options as to the purchase or rejection of that coverage. I further understand that because only one premium per policy is charged for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, regardless of the number of automobiles insured under the policy, only one limit of protection applies to any claim arising out of any one accident to which this coverage is applicable.

The reverse side of the form contained the standard UM coverage form required by 36 O.S.1991 § 3686(H). Below the explanation of UM coverage options, Larry checked the boxes indicating he wanted the same amount of UM coverage as bodily injury liability coverage (25/50). Mr. Withrow stipulated that he had no objection to the selections made by his son.

The parties1 stipulated that OFU never charged more than one premium for UM coverage per policy and that the single premium was not based upon the number of vehicles insured under a policy. They also stipulated that OFU does not offer or write any automobile insurance policy which provides more than a single UM limit per policy.

On June 27, 1991, Patricia Withrow was killed in an automobile/pedestrian accident caused by an underinsured motorist. The parties stipulated that the damages occasioned by Patricia’s death equal or exceed all available UM coverage. After OFU paid Patricia’s estate a single UM amount of $25,-000.00, Mr. Withrow filed the instant suit claiming he should be allowed to “stack” his UM coverage for each of his three vehicles in the sum of $75,000.00. Withrow argued that the addition of the third car to his insurance policy created a new policy for which he should have been offered “stackable” UM coverage. Because such UM coverage was not offered or rejected at that time, Withrow intimates that UM coverage on all three vehicles exists by operation of law. OFU insisted that it was not required to, and did not, offer the Withrows the option of stacking their UM coverage when the third ear was added to their policy.

Both parties moved for summary judgment and submitted stipulations of fact to the trial court. The trial judge granted summary judgment to Withrow and awarded him $75,-000.00 (to be offset by the $25,000.00 already received from OFU). The Court of Appeals [803]*803reversed and ordered that judgment be entered for OFU for a single-policy limit of $25,000.00. This Court granted Withrow’s petition for writ of certiorari on March 8, 1995.

ISSUE

The issue presented in this proceeding is whether the trial court erred in ruling that Withrow is entitled to stack his UM coverage. We conclude that it did. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed and remanded with instructions.

DISCUSSION

Title 36 O.S.1991 § 3636 mandates that every automobile liability insurance policy issued in this state provide UM coverage, unless the insured rejects it in writing. Subsection 3636(B) specifically provides that, if selected by the insured, uninsured motorist:

[c]overage shall be not less than the amounts or limits prescribed for bodily injury or death for a policy meeting the requirements of Section 7-204 of Title 47 ...; provided, however, that increased limits of liability shall be offered and purchased if desired, not to exceed the limits provided in the policy of bodily injury liability of the insured....

The bodily injury/death liability limits prescribed by 47 O.S.1991 § 7-204 are $10,-000.00 per person and $20,000.00 per accident (10/20).

When they originally obtained their policy, the Withrows had the option under § 3636 of waiving UM coverage entirely or selecting UM coverage in amounts between 10/20 and the limits of their bodily injury liability coverage. As previously stated, the Withrows selected policy limits of 25/50 for bodily injury liability coverage on their two vehicles and 25/50 for UM coverage. In light of their policy’s liability limits, the Withrows’ 25/50 UM coverage was the maximum UM coverage allowed by law. When the Withrows added a third vehicle to their policy, they selected liability limits of 25/50 for that car and again selected the maximum amounts of UM coverage allowed under § 3636(B): 25/50.

Withrow’s claim that OFU was legally obligated to offer him stackable UM coverage when he added a third car to his policy is meritless. We recognize that the addition of a vehicle to an existing policy constitutes a new policy distinct from the original and, as such, § 3636 requires that UM coverage be offered in conjunction with the coverage of the new vehicle. Beauchamp v. Southwestern Nat’l Ins. Co., 746 P.2d 673, 676 (Okla.1987); 36 O.S.1991 § 3636(G)(2). We also agree with Withrow that a new policy was created when he added a third vehicle to his original policy. However, as discussed in detail below, Oklahoma law does not require an insurer to offer stackable UM coverage when a new vehicle is added to an existing insurance policy.

We find that OFU did all that was required of it by law when the Withrows requested coverage for their .third car.

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Withrow v. Pickard
1995 OK 120 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
1995 OK 120, 905 P.2d 800, 1995 Okla. LEXIS 140, 1995 WL 648946, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/withrow-v-pickard-okla-1995.