Halseth v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
Decision Date | 14 July 1978 |
Docket Number | No. 48115.,48115. |
Parties | Virginia HALSETH, et al., Respondents, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant. |
Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Meagher, Geer, Markham, Anderson, Adamson, Flaskamp & Brennan, Minneapolis, for appellant.
Miller, Neary & Zins, Minneapolis, for respondents.
Minnesota Trial Lawyers Assn., Gregory P. Joseph, Minneapolis, amicus curiae.
Considered and decided by the court without oral argument.
Defendant's appeal in this declaratory judgment action challenges the determination of the district court that a provision in automobile liability insurance policies issued by defendant under which plaintiffs sought uninsured-motorist coverage is invalid because it contravenes the intent of Minn.St. 65B.49, subd. 4. We affirm.
The three policies in question all define a "hit-and-run vehicle" as "a land motor vehicle which causes bodily injury to an insured arising out of physical contact of such vehicle with the insured or with a vehicle which the insured is occupying at the time of the accident * * *." The parties stipulated that the accident occurred September 20, 1975, when plaintiff Ginni Webb was forced to drive into the ditch because of the negligence of one or two unknown drivers. There was no physical contact between the vehicles involved, which was the basis of defendant's denial of coverage. The trial court ruled that the physical-contact requirement was an impermissible restriction on the coverage mandated by § 65B.49, subd. 4. This statute provides in pertinent part:
Although the issue presented here has not been decided by this court, policy provisions making physical contact of a hit-and-run motor vehicle with the insured or his vehicle a precondition of coverage have given rise to much litigation in the past several years. Courts of other states have differed on whether the requirement is valid as a reasonable measure to prevent fraud or whether it is so unduly restrictive of uninsured-motorist coverage that it contravenes the intent of the statute under consideration and the public policy of the state.
As was pointed out in Biggs v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 569 P.2d 430, 432 (Okl.1977), uninsured-motorist statutes enacted in this country have fallen into three basic types:
"* * * (1) Those where the statutes specifically state that there be physical contact to provide coverage; (2) those where the statute speaks of the uninsured motorist, but fails to mention either physical contact or hit-and-run drivers; and (3) those where the statute speaks only of uninsured motorists and hit-and-run drivers without mention of physical contact."
In U. S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Fruchtman, 263 N.W.2d 66 (Minn.1978), this court held that a policy-imposed, physical-contact requirement did not conflict with our prior uninsured-motorist statute, Minn. St.1971, § 65B.22, subd. 3, which provided:
"No automobile liability * * * policy of insurance * * * shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state * * * unless coverage is provided therein * * * for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles, including colliding motor vehicles whose operators or owners are unknown or are unidentifiable at the time of the accident, and whose identity does not become known thereafter, because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death, resulting therefrom. * * *" (Italics supplied.)
We held (263 N.W.2d 73):
(Italics supplied.)
We agree with the trial court that the fact the legislature did not reenact the italicized language of § 65B.22 quoted above when it enacted § 65B.49 plainly demonstrates its intention to require coverage of injuries caused by the actions of hit-and-run drivers whether or not physical contact occurs. Defendant, however, ignores the deletion of this language and insists that § 65B.49, subd. 4, in itself contains a requirement of physical contact as a precondition for such coverage because of the phrase "hit-and-run motor vehicle." Defendant contends that "hit" can only mean some form of physical contact.
Some courts have concluded that there is no conflict between the statutory term "hit-and-run motor vehicle" and the policy requirement of "physical contact of such automobile." Prosk v. Allstate Ins. Co., 82 Ill.App.2d 457, 226 N.E.2d 498, 25 A.L.R.3d 1294 (1967); Hendricks v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 5 N.C.App. 181, 167 S.E.2d 876 (1969); Grace v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 197 Neb. 118, 246 N.W.2d 874 (1976).
Other courts have refused to interpret the phrase "hit-and-run" as a statutory requirement of physical contact as a precondition of hit-and-run coverage. We agree with the analysis of the New Hampshire Supreme Court in Soule v. Stuyvesant Ins. Co., 116 N.H. 595, 597, 364 A.2d 883, 885 (1976):
To continue reading
Request your trial