Articles Posted in Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage

Fort Worth insurance lawyers can tell you there are a lot of uninsured motorist cases to be seen. The Insurance Journal published an article recently titled, “IRC: Uninsured Motorists a Perplexing Pervasive Concern.” Here is what the article tells us.

A new report shows there hasn’t been much ground gained in the battle to reduce the number of uninsured motorists on the road, and there’s nowhere experts can point their fingers as an explanation of the pervasive problem.

From a percentage point of view, the nation’s uninsured motorist dilemma is easing, but the bad news is that the cost of uninsured motorist claims has risen dramatically in the past decade, according to a report from the Insurance Research Council.

Insurance lawyers as well as all other lawyers understand that reading the law is not enough. It has to be researched to find changes and facts that may exist. Read all the way to the end to understand this. But first here is a case to read. It is a 1970, Texas Supreme Court opinion styled, State Farm v. Matlock. Here is the relevant information.

The Matlocks suffered injuries in an accident with a car driven by a man identified in this record only as a man with one leg. They knew the name of this man, but did not testify about his name. Upon the theory that he was an uninsured motorist and without joining him as a defendant, the Matlocks filed a direct action against their own insurer, State Farm, and asserted its liability under its policy terms to cover the Matlocks for damages for bodily injury caused by an uninsured motorist. The Matlocks obtained a judgment in the courts below.

State Farm is before this court upon points which urge that the Matlocks failed to obtain a judgment against the uninsured motorist. It says that a judgment against the uninsured motorist is a condition precedent to the Matlocks’ action against State Farm. State Farm also has a point, which it insistently urges in its motion for rehearing, that the Matlocks failed to prove that the driver of the other vehicle was an uninsured motorist. The Court was convinced that State Farm is correct in the contention that the Matlocks failed to discharge their burden of proof in this latter proposition citing:

Fort Worth insurance attorneys handling car wreck cases need to understand how underinsured insurance coverage works. There are many aspects of this understanding. One thing to know is that when a claim for underinsured benefits is made, the burden of proof is on the insurance company to prove the underinsured driver is actually underinsured. This is exemplified in a 1999, Austin Court of Appeals case styled, Wiley v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Here is relevant portions of the opinion.

Kay Wiley was injured in an automobile collision caused by Satyn Kaura. Unable to recover her full damages from Kaura, Wiley sued Kaura’s insurer, Farmers, and her own insurer, State Farm in separate suits. She settled with Farmers. After a trial to the court based on stipulated facts, the court found State Farm was liable to Wiley by virtue of her underinsured motorist policy. This court affirmed the judgment.

The collision occurred in September 1993. Kaura’s insurance carrier, Farmers, initially did not compensate Wiley for her personal injuries. In October 1993, Wiley told State Farm she intended to file claims under her policies for personal injury protection (PIP) and underinsured motorist benefits.

For Dallas attorneys handling uninsured motorist cases, this 1974, Houston Court of Appeals [14th Dist.] needs to be read. The style of the case is, Milton v. Preferred Risk Insurance Company. Here is some of the relevant information.

On January 18, 1969, Milton, was a passenger in a car driven by Iris Simonis and owned by Helen Bastin. This vehicle was involved in a collision with a car driven by Cathy Ann Lewis. The Lewis car was covered by an automobile liability policy issued by Allstate Insurance Company. The Bastin vehicle was covered by a policy issued by Preferred and Miss Milton had insurance on her personal automobile issued by American Economy Insurance Company. Both of the policies contain uninsured motorist protection (UM).

On March 2, 1970, Mrs. Simonis and the injured passengers in the car, other than Janice Sue Milton, filed suit against James L. Lewis, the owner of the Lewis vehicle. That suit was settled by a compromise agreement with Allstate in May of 1972. On July 14, 1970, Milton acting through an attorney different from the one representing her on appeal, filed suit against James Lamar Lewis, ‘individually and as next friend of CATHY ANN LEWIS, a minor.’ At this point Milton was under the misconception that Cathy Lewis was the daughter, rather than the wife, of Mr. Lewis. Service was not attempted on Mr. Lewis until October 6, 1970, and it was returned unexecuted. Service on Mr. Lewis was finally executed on April 15, 1971. On January 27, 1972, the petition was amended so as to properly name Cathy Lewis as defendant . Milton also named Preferred as defendant in this pleading, seeking recovery under the UM clause of the policy issued by it. On May 17, 1972, American Economy was named as a defendant in another amendment. Cathy Lewis was served on March 14, 1972, and default judgment was entered against her on April 10, 1972.

Attorneys handling auto claims involving auto insurance need to be aware of this case. It is a Texas Supreme Court case styled Nationwide Insurance Company v. Elchehimi. Here is some of the relevant information.

This breach of contract suit stems from the denial of coverage by Nationwide Insurance Company on a claim arising from a collision between insured Mohamad Elchehimi’s vehicle and an axle-wheel assembly separated from an unidentified semi-trailer truck. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Nationwide. Because there was no actual physical contact between Elchehimi’s vehicle and the unidentified truck as required by statute to trigger the uninsured motorist coverage, this court upheld that ruling.

Mohamad Elchehimi’s station wagon collided with a drive axle and attached tandem wheels that had separated from an eighteen-wheel semi-trailer truck. The unidentified truck, which was being driven in the opposite direction on a divided highway, did not stop. Momentum carried the axle-wheel assembly across the dividing median where it struck Elchehimi’s vehicle, injuring the occupants and damaging the car. Elchehimi had purchased from Nationwide a standard Texas personal automobile insurance policy, including the optional statutorily defined unidentified motorist coverage. Nationwide denied Elchehimi’s claim for uninsured motorist benefits because the impact between Elchehimi’s vehicle and the axle-wheel assembly was not “actual physical contact” with an unknown “motor vehicle” as required by the terms of the policy and the Texas Insurance Code.

Dallas insurance lawyers have to know about this case. The case is styled Hernandez v. Gulf Group Lloyds. It is a 1994, Texas Supreme Court case. Here is some relevant information.

In this cause, the court considered whether an insurer may deny an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim on the basis of a “settlement without consent” exclusion clause absent any showing that the settlement prejudiced the insurer. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the insureds. The court of appeals reversed, reasoning that the insureds had violated their insurance contract by settling with the underinsured motorist without the insurer’s consent. This court held that an insurer may escape liability on the basis of a settlement-without-consent exclusion only when the insurer is actually prejudiced by the insured’s settlement with the tortfeasor.

This case was tried on the following stipulated facts. On November 21, 1987, Elizabeth Hernandez was killed when the car in which she was a passenger flipped over. The sole proximate cause of the accident was the negligence of the driver of the car, Charles McCullough, Jr. At the time of the accident, McCullough was nineteen years old and his only asset was a $25,000 liability policy with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Elizabeth Hernandez was covered by her parents’ insurance policy with Gulf Group Lloyds. That policy included uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in the amount of $100,000. The damages suffered by Elizabeth Hernandez and her parents exceeded $125,000.