Byrn v. American Universal Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 22 February 1977
• Docket Number: No. 37755,37755
• Citation: 548 S.W.2d 186
• Parties: Olan BYRN and Betty L. Byrn, guardians of Brian M. Byrn, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AMERICAN UNIVERSAL INSURANCE CO., Defendant-Respondent. . Louis District, Division Three
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 186

548 S.W.2d 186

Olan BYRN and Betty L. Byrn, guardians of Brian M. Byrn Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AMERICAN UNIVERSAL INSURANCE CO., Defendant-Respondent.

No. 37755.

Missouri Court of Appeals, St. Louis District, Division Three.

Feb. 22, 1977.

J. William Holliday, Kahoka, for plaintiffs-appellants.

J. Patrick Wheeler, Canton, Anderson & McMurray, Barry M. Anderson, Keokuk, Iowa, for defendant-respondent.

GUNN, Judge.

In this rather classic conflict of laws or, if preferred, choice of laws case, we are confronted with the issue of whether to apply the Iowa guest statute or Missouri tort law. Judy Lynn Byrn a Missouri resident, was a passenger in a car owned and operated by Robert W. Anderson, an uninsured motorist and an Iowa resident. The car left the road and struck an embankment and a utility pole in the State of Iowa. Judy Byrn and Anderson died as a result of the accident. This action was instituted by the guardians of Judy Byrn's sole surviving child, Brian M. Byrn, in an attempt to recover from defendant, American Universal Insurance Company, the maximum coverage provided under the uninsured motorist provision of the insurance policy issued by the defendant to Judy Byrn. The pertinent portion of the uninsured motorist provision provides that the "company will pay all sums which insured or legal representative shall be legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured automobile because of bodily injury . . . including death resulting therefrom . . . sustained by insured, caused by accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of such uninsured automobile. . . ." (emphasis added) The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurance company, holding that the Iowa guest statute, (§ 321.494 Iowa Code, 1975), which provides that an owner or operator of a car will not be liable for damages to a guest unless, inter alia, such damage was caused as a result of the reckless operation by him of such motor vehicle, was applicable and barred recovery on the facts as stipulated in this case. The plaintiffs appeal, contending that the Iowa guest statute should not be applied in this case. They argue that Missouri's ordinary negligence law should be applied thereby entitling them to recovery.

The case was tried before the trial court upon stipulated facts. The parties agreed that Robert Anderson was a resident of Iowa; that his car was registered in Iowa; and that the accident occurred in Iowa. They also agreed that the guest-host relationship was created in Iowa; that Robert Anderson was an uninsured motorist as defined in the insurance policy; and that the accident resulted from his negligence. It was agreed that Mr. Anderson's conduct was not reckless and wanton as contemplated by the Iowa guest statute. Finally, it was stipulated that Judy Byrn and her son were residents of Missouri and that the damages for the wrongful death of Judy Byrn exceed $10,000, which is the limit the defendant's liability under the policy.

For recovery under the uninsured motorist provisions of the policy, plaintiffs have the burden of proving: 1) that Mr. Anderson was uninsured; 2) that he would be legally liable to Judy Byrn; and 3) the amount of such liability. Hill v. Seaboard Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 374 S.W.2d 606, 609 (Mo.App.1963). Through stipulation, the parties have agreed that the first and third requirements have been met. We are therefore concerned only with the second whether Anderson would be legally liable to Judy Bryn. As noted, the policy provides that "the company will pay sums which the insured or legal representative shall be legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured automobile." (emphasis added). ¹ While it is not necessary for the insured or his legal representative to obtain a judgment from the uninsured motorist prior to enforcing his rights against his own insurance company, Hill v. Seaboard Fire & Marine Ins., supra, the plaintiff must show that the uninsured motorist would have been liable to the insured. See Crenshaw v. Great Central Ins. Co., 527 S.W.2d 1 (Mo.App.1975), where the court said: "In order to prevail in this contract action . . . plaintiffs must establish that at the time this litigation against the insurer was commenced they were legally entitled to recover damages from the owner or operator of the uninsured highway vehicle. In other words, as an essential element of plaintiffs' cause of action in contract plaintiffs must be able to demonstrate their right to recover for the wrongful death of their son." Id., at 4. This requirement is consistent with the underlying purpose of the uninsured motorist statute, § 379.203 RSMo Supp.1975, which is to give the same protection to the person injured by an uninsured motorist as he would have had if he had been injured in an accident caused by an automobile covered by a standard liability policy. Brake v. MFA Ins. Co., 525 S.W.2d 109, 112 (Mo.App.1975); Webb v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 479 S.W.2d 148, 151 (Mo.App.1972). If the injured party is not legally entitled to recover from the uninsured motorist, then the injured party's insurance company is not liable under the uninsured motorist provisions of the contract. The case of Noland v. Farmers Ins. Exchange, 413 S.W.2d 530 (Mo.App.1967), illustrates this point. In Noland, the plaintiff, who was within the coverage of an uninsured motorist provision, was injured when the car she was riding in was struck from behind by a car driven by the plaintiff's husband. He was an uninsured driver. Under the terms of the insurance policy involved in Noland, the insurance company would pay all sums which the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle would be "legally responsible to pay as damages to the insured." Id., at 532. The court held that since neither spouse may maintain a civil action against the other during coverture based on a tort occurring during coverture, the uninsured motorist in this case the plaintiff's husband was not legally responsible to pay damages to the insured. Therefore, in harking back to the policy provisions, the court found that the insurance company was not liable under its policy. See also Crenshaw v. Great Central Ins. Co., supra.

Applying the foregoing legal rubric to the case before us, we must determine whether the plaintiffs would have been entitled to recover damages from Robert Anderson arising from the wrongful death of Judy Byrn. Resolution of this issue turns on the applicability of the Iowa guest statute to the underlying question of Robert Anderson's liability. If the Iowa law were to apply, Robert Anderson would not be liable, as the plaintiffs have stipulated that his conduct was not wanton or reckless as envisioned in the statute. If Missouri law, which does not limit the liability of a host-driver, were held to control, Robert Anderson would have been liable, as the defendant stipulated that his conduct was negligent. We are thus confronted with a choice of laws problem, to be resolved under the "most significant relationship" test adopted in Missouri in Kennedy v. Dixon, 439 S.W.2d 173 (Mo. banc 1969). The rule adopted in Kennedy is set forth in § 145 of the Restatement 2nd on Conflict of laws:

" § 145. The General Principle.

"(1) The rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to an issue in tort are determined by the local law of the state which, as to that issue, has the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties under the principles stated in § 6.

"(2) Contacts to be taken into account in applying the principles of § 6 to determine the law applicable to an issue include:

(a) the place where the injury occurred,

(b) the place where the conduct causing the injury occurred,

(c) the domicil, residence, nationality, place of incorporation and place of business of the parties, and

(d) the place where the relationship, if any, between the parties is centered.

"These contacts are to be evaluated according to their relative importance with respect to the particular issue."

Section 145 framed in reference to § 6 which sets out general choice of law principles:

" § 6 Choice-of-Law Principles

"(1) A court, subject to constitutional restrictions, will follow a statutory directive of its own state on choice of law.

"(2) When there is no such directive, the factors relevant to the choice of the applicable rule of law include

(a) The needs of the interstate and international systems,

(b) the relevant policies of the forum,

(c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those states in the determination of the particular issue,

(d) the protection of justified expectations,

(e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law,

(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of result, and

(g) ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied."

In Griggs v. Riley, 489 S.W.2d 469 (Mo.App.1972), this court was confronted with the applicability of another state's guest statute. After a comprehensive analysis of the various factors listed in § 145 and § 6, the court found § 145(2)(c) and (d) and § 6(b) and (c) to be the most significant in analyzing which state's law should apply. Id., at 473. In applying these factors to the question of whether the plaintiffs would be legally entitled to recover from Robert Anderson, (whether the Iowa guest statute should apply), we find that Iowa would have the most significant relationship to this issue, and that its guest statute would apply to bar plaintiffs' recovery. Under the "contract points" listed in 145, we find:

1) Robert Anderson was an Iowa resident;

2) The guest-host relationship was created in Iowa;

3) The accident occurred in Iowa;

4) Judy Byrn was employed in Iowa and had apparently left her car at her place of employment to ride on the Iowa highways with Mr. Anderson. There was no indication that her trip...