Allstate Ins. Co. v. Stone

• Decision Date: 28 October 1993
• Docket Number: No. 20813,20813
• Citation: 1993 NMSC 66,863 P.2d 1085,116 N.M. 464
• Parties: ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant, v. Thomas E. STONE and Bertha Stone, Defendants-Counter-Plaintiffs.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Page 1085

863 P.2d 1085

116 N.M. 464

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant, v. Thomas E. STONE and Bertha Stone, Defendants-Counter-Plaintiffs.

No. 20813.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

Oct. 28, 1993.

[116 N.M. 465] Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, P.A., R.E. Thompson, Lisa Mann Burke, Albuquerque, for plaintiff-counter-defendant.

Janet Santillanes and James T. Roach, Albuquerque, for defendants-counter-plaintiffs.

Sager, Curran, Sturges & Tepper, P.C., Robert L. Scott, Albuquerque, for amicus New Mexico Defense Lawyers Ass'n.

William H. Carpenter and Michael B. Browde, Albuquerque, for amicus New Mexico Trial Lawyers Ass'n.

OPINION

FROST, Justice.

This matter comes before us by way of certification from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 34-2-8 (Repl.Pamp.1990) and SCRA 1986, 12-607 (Repl.Pamp.1992).

FACTS

Thomas and Bertha Stone insured four vehicles under one multi-vehicle policy with Allstate Insurance Company. The Stones also carried a single-car policy with Allstate that insured a fifth car. They renewed their multi-car policy with Allstate in April 1990. Until April 1990, Allstate had charged separate premiums for uninsured motorist coverage on each of the Stones' four vehicles on that policy. After April 1990, however, Allstate charged one premium for uninsured coverage on their multi-car policy.

In May 1990, Bertha Stone was a passenger in one of the Stones' vehicles when it collided with an underinsured motorist. The tortfeasor had liability coverage of $30,000, which Mrs. Stone claimed was insufficient to cover her damages. Thus, she sought to recover from her underinsured coverage with Allstate.¹ Allstate agreed to pay Stone what it determined was its entire underinsured motorist coverage under her two policies. Allstate stacked the underinsured coverage from the two policies, totaling $50,000, and paid Stone $20,000 after offsetting what she received from the tortfeasor's liability coverage.

The Stones claimed, however, that they should be allowed to stack the underinsured motorist coverage from each of the four vehicles under their multi-car policy. As a result of intra-policy stacking, then, the Stones claimed that Allstate should provide an additional $75,000 in underinsured coverage as their multi-car policy provided $25,000 in underinsured coverage on each of the four vehicles under the policy.

Allstate filed a declaratory judgment action in federal district court against the Stones, seeking a determination that the Stones' multi-car policy properly precluded stacking of underinsured motorist coverage. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, stipulating to the basic facts recited herein. The district court, sua sponte, concluded that the disposition of the cross-motions for summary judgment turned on a question of first impression in New Mexico and was thus appropriate for certification to this Court. We accepted certification.

ISSUES

The district court certified four questions: (1) Can Allstate Insurance Company prohibit the stacking or aggregation of the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage present in its New Mexico multi-car automobile insurance policies if the policy language purports to prohibit such stacking and if Allstate charges a single premium for the subject coverage?; (2) Does the Allstate Insurance Company automobile insurance policy at issue in this action clearly and unambiguously preclude stacking of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?; (3) Does the Allstate Insurance Company charge a single premium for its uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in New Mexico? If not, how many premiums does Allstate charge for this coverage?; and (4) If Allstate Insurance Company charges an additional premium for multi-car policy uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, are Thomas and Bertha Stone allowed to stack the policy limits for each insured automobile, or may the insured stack only the same number of policy limits as the number of premiums Allstate actually charges for its uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage?

DISCUSSION

The resolution of this case turns upon an internal inconsistency in the Stones' multi-car policy, which is fatal to Allstate's contention that the policy precludes intra-policy stacking of underinsured motorist coverage. This conclusion answers the second question that the district court certified to this Court. Because the resolution of this issue would appear to be case-dispositive, we do not address the other issues that the district court certified to us. Addressing the other issues certified to us would result in an advisory opinion. See Schlieter v. Carlos, 108 N.M. 507, 508, 775 P.2d 709, 710 (1989) (per curiam) (refusing to answer questions on certification from district court because Court could not resolve those issues on the record presented).

Allstate admitted that until it changed its rate structure before the Stones renewed their multi-car policy, intra-policy stacking would have been allowed and would have given the Stones $100,000 in underinsured coverage on their multi-car policy. The Stones argue that when they renewed their policy in April 1990, they expected to continue that same coverage. Allstate claims, however, that upon renewal, it informed all of its policyholders of its new rate structure and of its discontinuation of intra-policy stacking on multi-car policies. In...