Missouri Insurance Lawyer Blog

In the case of Long v. Shelter Insurance Company, the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals, held that Shelter Insurance's anti-stacking language in the underinsured motorist coverage was ambiguous because of the "other insurance" clause. The court concluded that Shelter's "excess" language in the "other insurance" clause as well as it's "other insurance in the company" provision created ambiguity when read with the policy's anti-stacking language. The court further went on to strike down the policy set off provision, holding that the interplay of the policy's declaration page, limits of liability, and its promise to pay uncompensated damages created ambiguity when viewed against the policy's set-off language.

Interestingly, on the same day the court also issued the opinion of Stewart v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company holding in that case that the insured could not stack and that the UIM anti-stacking language was not ambiguous. In its decision, the court distinguished between the "excess" "other insurance" language in the Liberty Mutual policy from the "other insurance" provisions considered by the Missouri Supreme Court in Ritchie v. Allied Property and Casualty Insurance Company, 307 S.W.3d 132 (Mo. banc 2009). In its decision, the Western District relied on a decision which had already been partially repudiated by the Missouri Supreme Court. That decision, Farm Bureau Town & Country Insurance Company of Missouri v. Barker, 150 S.W.3d 103 (Mo. App. W.D. 2004), was noted by the Supreme Court to have not been cited in any other underinsured motorist decision since it was handed down, and to the extent it was inconsistent with Seeck v. Geico General Insurance Company, 212 S.W.3d 129 (Mo. banc 2000), Barker should no longer be followed. In a detailed decision, the Stewart court, relying on Barker, distinguished the excess provision from other provisions addressed in Ritchie and Seeck. The Missouri Supreme Court did not accept transfer of the case. However, given Ritchie's criticism of Barker, and the Western District's reliance on Barker, this issue almost certainly will be revisited in other cases. The Seeck case, which the Supreme Court cited with approval, relied on a long line of cases including Zemelman v. Equity Mutual Insurance Company, 935 S.W.2d 673 (Mo. App. W.D. 1996); Goza v. Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company, 972 S.W.2d 371 (Mo. App. E.D. 1998); Niswonger v. Farm Bureau Town & Country Insurance Company of Missouri, 992 S.W.2d 308 (Mo. App. E.D. 1999); American Family Mutual Insurance Company v. Ragsdale, 213 S.W.2d 51 (Mo. App. W.D. 2006) and Chamness v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company, 226 S.W.3d 1999 (Mo. App. E.D. 2007), which included similar language to the policy contained in Stewart, but reached opposite conclusions of Barker. Undoubtedly, insurers seeking to avoid underinsured motorist liability will avoid the language held to be ambiguous in Long v. Shelter Insurance Company, and move towards the language held not to be ambiguous in Stewart v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company in the future. Nonetheless, given the inconsistencies between the Stewart court's reliance on the Barker decision and its stark contrast with Seeck and its cases, the underinsured motorist stacking issue will continue to spawn numerous cases, and seemingly conflicting decisions.

The insured, Michael Blumer filed suit against his own insurance company, Automobile Club Inter-Insurance Exchange (d/b/a AAA Insurance) following a motorcycle accident in Boone County, Missouri. The driver of the other vehicle was never identified. At the time of the motorcycle incident, Blumer had two vehicles insured by AAA. The AAA policy provided uninsured motorist coverage with limits of $100,000 per person for each of two vehicles.

The AAA Policy contained an exclusion which provided "This coverage shall not apply to vehicles, including trailers, owned by you and not insured under this policy". It was not disputed that Blumer's motorcycle was owned by him and was not insured under the AAA policy, but was insured with another insurance company. That company, Progressive Northwestern Insurance Company, paid its uninsured motorist limits of $25,000.

Continue reading "SUIT AGAINST AAA INSURANCE COMPANY FINDS THAT EXCLUSION CONFLICTS WITH MISSOURI'S MOTOR VEHICLE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY LAW" »

How you may buy your insurance policy is changing in Missouri and national. Many insurance companies are placing a large emphasis towards online purchase of policies. In some of these ads the major point is a cheap price and insurance coverage is displayed as commodities that can simply be purchased like picking a cereal box off your grocery's shelf.
The problem of course is insurance policies are way more important than what cereal you choose. Obviously the price of anything is important, and consumers are naturally price sensitive, but the old adage, you get what pay for continues to be true. If you buy at rock bottom prices online you're getting paired down coverage that may leave you with many gaps.
Simply put, all coverage are not the same, and just because you have a coverage doesn't mean you are covered exactly the same way you would be if you had seen and agent and purchased a policy that cost a little more. My advice is see an insurance agent or two in person. Get advice on what the scope and price of coverage is and then choose which policy is best for your particular situation.
Let me give you an example of how two policies can differ greatly. An inexpensive underinsured motorist policy from a national online advertiser defines underinsured motorist coverage in a way that totally off sets the coverage by what the opposing driver has in liability coverage. A more traditional company that sells its policy through agents cost a little more, but it treats the same coverage as excess over the other driver's liability coverage. So if buyer one has $100,000.00 of underinsured coverage and is in a sever crash with another driver who has $100,000 of liability coverage and is badly injured he collects $100,000.00. The second buyer who paid a little more gets to collect $200,000.00. Obviously one of these policies offers much more protection than the other.
As I see it the problem with buying on line is that you don't get to ask questions face to face, and you really don't get an understanding of what is really covered. I recommend that you treat insurance like what it really is, a very important part of your financial risk management, even if some companies want to race to the bottom competing over price.

It's amazing how many times I have clients injured in a car crash tell me that that thought they had "full coverage." In Missouri there are minimum state requirements for insurance coverage, but these minimums are very far from full coverage. When your only instruction to an agent or insurance company is that you want full coverage you are leaving your financial protection to chance. Missouri law requires that auto policies have liability insurance coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and the same limits for uninsured auto coverage. There is no legal requirement to have underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage, accidental death, or extended benefits coverage.
Underinsured coverage offers protection from drivers who injure you but do not have enough coverage to cover your injuries. Medical payments coverage pays for medical bills you incur as a result of being injured by a vehicle related incident, if you are killed this coverage pays all or part of the face amount of the benefit depending on the policy. Accidental death provides additional coverage should you die in an auto related incident. Extended benefits coverage pays lost wages if you are off work from an auto related incident.
If you want full coverage you would purchase all of this coverage to insure that you are truly protected. You also need to purchase insurance limits that make sense for you given your financial circumstances. I suggest that your minimum limits should be no less than $100,000 for liability insurance, uninsured motorist, and underinsured motorist. $10,000 in medical payments coverage and accidental death is adequate if you have adequate health insurance and life insurance. If you have significant assets or income then you should purchase higher limits to protect yourself and your family.

Most people are aware that if they are involved in an automobile accident with another vehicle they can bring a lawsuit against the driver and owner of the other vehicle for monetary damages. But what if the other vehicle has minimal insurance coverage that is inadequate to compensate you for your injuries? Or worse, what if the other vehicle had no insurance at all? Under these circumstances, you may be able to look to your own automobile insurance policy for coverage.

Missouri law requires that all automobile insurance policies include uninsured motorist coverage.  This covers you when the driver of a vehicle has no insurance. It may also cover you if you reside in a household with someone who owns an insured automobile.    By law, every automobile insurance policy issued in Missouri must have a provision for uninsured motorist benefits of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per person and fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per accident for two or more people. You may increase the limits of your uninsured benefits to match the policy limits of your overall general liability coverage. For example, if you have automobile liability coverage of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident you may obtain uninsured motorist benefits to match that amount.

An optional coverage in Missouri is Underinsured Motorist coverage which helps if you are involved in an automobile accident (whether you are a driver, passenger or pedestrian) with a motor vehicle that does not have adequate insurance. Under this coverage you may still be able to recover money from your own automobile insurance company for your injury. Whether or not you can bring a claim against your own policy and for how much depends on the limits of your underinsured motorist coverage and the specific facts of your situation. Underinsured motorist coverage is important to purchase because it allows you to recover money from your own automobile insurance coverage if the offending vehicle had inadequate insurance coverage.

It is a good practice that your uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance limits match your liability limits.

If you need assistance with your uninsured or underinsured injury case contact Chris Faiella, or one of the attorneys at his firm for your free initial consultation at 1-800-264-3455.

Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) covers you and your passengers for damage caused by another motorist who has insufficient insurance to cover the damages caused.  This type of coverage compensates you or your passenger for the deficiency in the coverage of the motorist who caused the collision and injuries.  The definition of what is an underinsured motorist is defined by the policy and can be modified by state law.  Generally there are two ways insurance companies approach this definition, a less than approach or a damages approach.  Insurance companies that use a less than approach define underinsured motorist as someone who has less coverage than your auto insurance liability limits.  For example, if the driver that hit and injured you has $25,000.00 dollars of liability coverage and you have $100,000.00 of underinsured coverage the driver that hit you is an underinsured motorist.  If that driver had $100,000.00 in liability limits the other driver would not be an underinsured driver.  The other general approach is to define an underinsured motorist as someone who has limits that are insufficient to cover the insured's damages.  Thus, if the opposing driver had $100,000.00 of liability coverage and you had   $100,000.00 of underinsured coverage the opposing driver would be underinsured if you had more than $100,000.00 of damages.  Thus when purchasing underinsured motorist coverage insurance you should try to determine which approach your company has taken, as the damages approach is much more favorable to you, your family and passengers. 

If you have a claim where you have been hurt by another driver you need to look not only at the opposing drivers polices but at your own to insure policy to see if you can collect any benefits under your own policy.  If you need assistance contact Chris Faiella, with the law firm of Tatlow, Gump & Faiella at 1-800-264-3455 for a free, consultation.  Chris will help you determine your options and advise you as to the course of action that will best suit your individual situation.

Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) covers you and your passengers for damage caused by another motorist who has no insurance.  This type of coverage compensates you and your passengers for the lack of insurance being carried on the vehicle that caused the injuries.  It also covers vehicles that caused injuries but can’t be identified. These are often referred to as phantom vehicles. 

If an opposing driver has no insurance this is coverage on your policy that will cover that deficiency up to the policy limits.  In many states, such as Missouri, an insured policyholder can stack their UM limits when they are injured an uninsured driver.  This means that for every insured vehicle you own the limits of that vehicle can be stacked to help cover your damages. For example, if you are injured by an uninsured driver and you own two cars with $100,000.00 of UM each you can stack those limits and collect up to $200,000.00 for your damages.  While it seems clear that Um applies when someone has no insurance the issue can be complicated by how the policy defines an uninsured motorist. 

Polices that are favorable to the insured define an uninsured motorist as anyone having less that the State mandatory minimum liability limits for the State where your car is licensed.  However, some policies can define an uninsured motorist as a person having no insurance. Because some States require different mandatory liability limits less than the State in which you live an insurance company could take the position that a driver with $10,000.00 of coverage is insured.  Thus, using the numbers above under this type of policy you would not collect up to $200,000.00 dollars but only $10,000.00.  However, if uninsured was defined as less than your State’s mandatory limits and your state required more than the other driver’s $10,000.00 you could collect up to $200,000.00 dollars.  When you shop for insurance ask how the policy defines an uninsured motorist as it can make a big difference in what benefits you receive.

If you have a claim where you have been hurt by another driver you need to look not only at the opposing drivers polices but at your own to insure policy to see if you can collect any benefits under your own policy.  If you need assistance contact Chris Faiella, with the law firm of Tatlow, Gump & Faiella at 1-800-264-3455 for a free, consultation.  Chris will help you determine your options and advise you as to the course of action that will best suit your individual situation.

Uninsured and Underinsured coverage may or not be in your auto policy for a number of reasons.  Some states require both some require uninsured but not underinsured and some don't require either coverage.  Even in States that require both, you may not have enough to truly cover your situation.  It is very common in my practice as an attorney to deal with people who have a serious injury as a result of the other drivers fault. Unfortunately, it's just as common to find that the other driver has no insurance or not enough to cover the damage caused to the injured person's life.

 

Uninsured and underinsured motorist are very useful coverages to protect yourself and your family.  Uninsured coverage, also called UM, provides protection when the person injuring the policyholder/claimant does not have any insurance, or less than your States required limits for liability insurance.  Underinsured coverage, also called UIM, provides protection when the other driver is insured but his limits are not adequate to cover your damages. 

 

From a risk prospective it makes sense that you have both coverages even if your state does not require the coverage. Despite mandatory insurance laws as many as 1 in 7 drivers are uninsured. If you are injured bad enough most private motorist are going to be underinsured for your injuries as the most common liability insurance limit on passenger vehicles is $25,000.00. This is hardly enough to compensate for the medical bills, and lost pay even a moderate injury would cause.  To protect yourself and your family you should consider buying limits that are more than $25,000.00. The good news is that this insurance is not generally very expensive compared to liability insurance.  If you are not sure what limits to get, consider this, I have never had a single seriously injured client who regretted buying UM and UIM protection.  I have had many who regretted not getting enough.  I consider $100,000.00 the minimum safe limit to purchase.  If you don't know if you have it check your declarations page, or contact your agent or insurance company.

 

Many people think they have "full coverage" which from my experience means nothing. Some agents tell clients they have full coverage when they purchase the state required insurance, and others mean that you have added optional coverages.  The only way to make sure you have enough UM and UIM is to verify it by reviewing your policy or asking your insurance company or agent specifically about the coverage.