Tate v. Allstate Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 04 April 1997
• Citation: 692 So.2d 822
• Parties: Angela TATE and Enoch Tate, v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY. 1951906.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 822

692 So.2d 822

Angela TATE and Enoch Tate, v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY.

1951906.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

April 4, 1997.

Richard D. Horne, Mobile, for Appellants.

Carl Robert Gottlieb, Jr., of Reams, Philips, Brooks, Schell, Gaston & Hudson, Mobile, for Appellee.

HOOPER, Chief Justice.

Allstate Insurance Company ("Allstate") sued for a declaratory judgment, requesting that the Baldwin County Circuit Court determine the amount of insurance coverage available to Enoch Tate on a loss-of-consortium claim. The claim arose out of a motor vehicle accident involving a vehicle driven by Enoch Tate's wife, Angela Tate, and a vehicle driven by Allstate's insured, Myrtis Franklin. The trial court entered a judgment declaring that Enoch Tate's loss-of-consortium claim arose out of Angela Tate's bodily injuries and thus was not a separate claim. This holding meant that Allstate's policy limitation of $100,000 per person applied to both Angela Tate's claims and Enoch Tate's claim taken together. The Tates appeal. We reverse. We hold that Enoch Tate's claimed loss of consortium would be a separate "injury" within the language of the Allstate policy; therefore, his consortium claim has its own $100,000 limit.

On August 22, 1994, Angela Tate; two of her children, Terry and Paula; and her godchild, Monica Collins, were involved in an automobile accident with Mrs. Franklin. Mrs. Franklin's vehicle ran a stop sign and collided with Angela Tate's vehicle, which was then struck by a truck driven by Dennis E. Middleton. Angela Tate sustained severe injuries to an arm and has since incurred approximately $72,527.55 in medical expenses. ¹ On February 1, 1995, Mrs. Tate sued Mrs. Franklin, based on Mrs. Tate's injuries arising out of the August 1994 accident. Enoch Tate joined as a plaintiff, claiming damages for loss of consortium of his wife and, as father and next friend of Terry and Paula, seeking damages on their behalf for injuries they sustained as a result of the alleged negligence and wantonness of Mrs. Franklin. Rose M. Collins, as mother and next friend of Monica Collins, filed an action against Mrs. Franklin seeking damages for the injuries Monica sustained in the accident. The Tates amended their complaint on April 25, 1995, to add the third driver involved in the accident, Dennis Middleton, as a defendant.

At the time of the accident, Mrs. Franklin was covered by an insurance policy issued by Allstate. Allstate has undertaken to defend Mrs. Franklin. Mrs. Franklin's policy provided coverage of up to "$100,000 each person--$300,000 each occurrence"; however, the policy explicitly limits Allstate's liability by stating:

"The limits [$100,000 per person, $300,000 per occurrence] are the maximum we will pay for any single auto accident. The limit stated for each person for bodily injury applies to all damages arising from bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death sustained by one person in any one occurrence. The occurrence limit is our total limit of liability for all legal damages for bodily injuries sustained by two or more persons in any one occurrence."

(Emphasis added.) Moreover, the policy states under the heading "Part I, Automobile Liability Insurance, Bodily Injury--Coverage AA, Property Damage--Coverage BB":

"Allstate will pay for all damages a person insured is legally obligated to pay--because of bodily injury or property damage meaning:

"(1) bodily injury, sickness, disease or death to any person, including loss of services; and

"(2) damage to or destruction of property, including loss of use."

(First emphasis original; all other emphasis added.)

Allstate offered the Tates $100,000--the maximum available to them under Allstate's interpretation of the policy limits--to settle all their claims. The Tates refused the offer, asserting that Angela Tate was entitled to the $100,000 per person limit herself and that Enoch Tate's claims for loss of consortium should not be subject to Angela Tate's per-person limit of $100,000. On January 26, 1996, Allstate sued for a judgment declaring its obligations under the policy. The Baldwin County Circuit Court determined that Enoch Tate's claims were subject to Angela Tate's per-person liability limit because Enoch Tate's claims were derivative of Mrs. Tate's bodily injury claims.

The Tates contend that Mr. Tate's claim for loss of consortium is not included within Mrs. Tate's personal limitation. The Tates assert that by defining "bodily injury" to include loss of services, Allstate conferred upon Mr. Tate his own bodily injury arising out of the August 1994 accident, even though he was not in the automobile at the time of the accident. The Tates claim that because, according to the policy language, Mr. Tate suffered his own bodily injury, he should not be subject to Mrs. Tate's bodily injury limit. Instead, they claim that he should have his own $100,000 limitation, provided, however, that the claims of all persons claiming under the liability coverage do not exceed the $300,000 limitation. Allstate concedes that Mr. Tate's claim for loss of consortium is covered by the policy; however, it argues that his claim must be applied against the $100,000 per-person policy limit applicable to Mrs. Tate.

It is a generally accepted principle that if there is no ambiguity in an insurance policy, a court is bound to enforce the policy as written and cannot ignore express provisions of the contract. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Chilton-Shelby Mental Health Center, 595 So.2d 1375 (Ala.1992). A policy is not made ambiguous by the fact that the parties interpret the policy differently. Watkins v. United States Fidelity & Guar. Co., 656 So.2d 337 (Ala.1994). The Allstate policy under which the Tates attempt to recover clearly and unequivocally defines "bodily injury" to include "loss of services." It defines "bodily injury" as including:

"(1) bodily injury, sickness, disease or death to any person, including loss of services ...."

(Emphasis added.) Therefore, the Allstate policy is not ambiguous.

However, even...