Progressive Specialty Ins. Co. v. Naramore, 1041892.

• Decision Date: 21 July 2006
• Docket Number: 1041892.
• Citation: 950 So.2d 1138
• Parties: PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY v. Stephen NARAMORE, as the natural father and next friend of Hannah Naramore, a minor.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

950 So.2d 1138 PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY
v.
Stephen NARAMORE, as the natural father and next friend of Hannah Naramore, a minor. 1041892. Supreme Court of Alabama. July 21, 2006.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Washington County, No. CV-04-65, J. Thomas Baxter, Jr., J.

Kenneth A. Hitson, Jr., and Michael Anthony Shaw of Nix, Holtsford, Gilliland, Higgins & Hitson, P.C., Daphne, for appellant.

Frederick P. Gilmore of Gilmore Law Office, Grove Hill, for appellee.

SEE, Justice.

Progressive Specialty Insurance Company appeals by permission, pursuant to Rule 5, Ala. R.App. P., from the trial court's denial of its motion for a summary judgment. We answer the controlling

950 So.2d 1139

questions of law presented by this appeal, reverse the trial court's judgment, and render a judgment in favor of Progressive.

Facts and Procedural History

On October 28, 2003, Tammy Weaver struck Hannah Naramore with her car while Hannah, a pedestrian, was attempting to cross a street. It is undisputed that Weaver was an underinsured motorist. Stephanie Naramore, Hannah's mother, was the sole named insured on a Progressive automobile insurance policy.¹ On July 8, 1999, when she was applying for the Progressive policy, Stephanie signed a form entitled "Rejection of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage." The form states in its entirety:

"I have been offered Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage up to an amount equal to the limits of the liability coverage and I reject the option to purchase any Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage. I understand that Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage would have protected me, my resident relatives, and occupants of a covered vehicle if any of us sustain bodily injury, including any resulting death, in an accident in which the owner or operator of a motor vehicle who is legally liable does not have insurance (an uninsured motorist) or does not have enough insurance (an underinsured motorist).

"I understand and agree that this rejection of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage shall be binding on all persons insured under the policy, and that this rejection shall also apply to any renewal, reinstatement, substitute, amended, altered, modified, or replacement policy with this company or any affiliated company, unless a named insured submits a request to add the coverage and pays the additional premium."

Stephanie's signature is found below this text next to the words, "Signature of Insured-Applicant."

Hannah was a minor at the time of the accident. Hannah's father, Stephen Naramore, as her natural father and next friend, sued Progressive, alleging that Hannah was entitled to recover uninsured/underinsured-motorist benefits under Stephanie's policy with Progressive.

Progressive moved the trial court for a summary judgment; the trial court denied its motion. Progressive, under Rule 5, Ala. R.App. P., petitioned this Court for permission to appeal from the interlocutory order denying its summary-judgment motion. See Rule 5(a), Ala. R.App. P. We granted Progressive's petition for permission to appeal.

Analysis

The trial court certified the following controlling questions of law as appropriate for review on this permissive appeal:

"(1) Whether or not a spouse can be considered a named insured when `named insured' is not defined by the policy but the spouse is not identified as a named insured on any documentation and, if not, then

"whether or not a husband can make a claim for uninsured/underinsured benefits on behalf of a child under an insurance policy, issued to his wife, in which the only named insured has explicitly rejected uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage."

We answer both questions in the negative.

We answered a controlling question of law arising from a similar set of facts in Progressive Specialty Insurance Co. v.

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Green, 934 So.2d 364 (Ala.2006), and held in that case that "[a] spouse of a deceased person, who was not specifically named as an insured on the deceased person's insurance policy, cannot receive uninsured-motorist benefits if the deceased, who was the sole named insured, expressly rejected uninsured-motorist benefits."

The trial court certified the controlling questions of law in this case, and this Court granted Progressive permission to appeal the trial court's interlocutory order before Green was decided. However, the parties submitted briefs to this Court after this Court released its opinion in Green. Our decision in Green effectively answers the first question, which was based on Stephen's contention in the trial court that he should be considered a "named insured" even though he was not identified as a named insured in Stephanie's Progressive policy. In Green, Judy Green, a widow, sued Progressive seeking uninsured/underinsured-motorist benefits under a Progressive policy listing her deceased husband, Dana Green, as the sole named insured. Dana Green was killed in a car accident. Before his death, he had explicitly rejected uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage on a Progressive policy listing him as the sole named insured. Despite Dana's rejection of uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage, Judy sued Progressive,...