Hara v. Island Ins. Co., Ltd.
| Decision Date | 29 August 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 12614,12614 |
| Citation | 759 P.2d 1374,70 Haw. 42 |
| Parties | William Tsutomu HARA, Gregory Rupert Hara, Vanessa Linn Hara, and William Tsutomu Hara, Personal Representative of the Estate of Thelma Len Tai Young Hara, Deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ISLAND INSURANCE COMPANY, LIMITED, a Hawaii corporation, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
A motorist who has a policy providing the statutory minimum limits for bodily injury or death of any one person, in any one accident, applicable to each person sustaining accidential harm, is not underinsured with respect to claims of a decedent's spouse or children under the provisions of HRS §§ 431-448 and 287-7 in effect in 1979.
Andrew S. Ono (Hideki Nakamura of King Nakamura & Chun-Hoon; Eichi Oki, with him on briefs), Honolulu, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Archie T. Ikehara (James E. Duffy, Jr. and Colbert M. Matsumoto, with him on brief), Fujiyama Duffy & Fujiyama, Honolulu, for defendant-appellee.
Before LUM, C.J., PADGETT and HAYASHI, JJ., BURNS, Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge, and HEEN, Associate Judge, in place of NAKAMURA and WAKATSUKI, JJ., recused.
This is an appeal from orders denying appellants' motion for summary judgment and granting appellee's. We affirm.
On March 16, 1979, a car driven by Thelma Len Tai Young Hara (Thelma) was involved in an accident with a flatbed truck driven by Ului Apina and owned by Sione F. Manu. Thelma died at the scene. Apina and Manu were insured by Allstate Insurance Company under a policy which met the then minimum amounts required by Hawaii's financial responsibility and no-fault laws, and provided a maximum coverage of $25,000 per person for bodily injury or death with no accident or occurrence limit.
Thelma's widower, appellant William Tsutomu Hara (William), is the personal representative of her estate. Appellants Gregory Rupert Hara and Vanessa Linn Hara are the children of Thelma and William and, at the time of the accident, all shared the same household, and were insureds under the terms of an automobile policy issued by Island Insurance Company, covering two family vehicles. Separate premiums were paid for each vehicle.
In a separate suit, appellants obtained a default judgment against Apina and Manu, jointly and severally, for $437,160 to William, individually, $180,712 to Gregory Hara, $220,874 to Vanessa Hara, and $86,278.30 to William, as personal representative of the Estate of Thelma Hara, Deceased. Allstate has tendered the $25,000 coverage under the policy issued to Apina and Manu.
Appellants brought this suit alleging that Apina and Manu were underinsured and that accordingly they were entitled to the difference between $25,000 and the amounts available to them as uninsured motorist coverage under the policy issued by appellee.
At the time of the accident in question, HRS § 431-448 provided in part:
No automobile liability or motor vehicle liability policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death suffered by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, shall be delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this State, with respect to any motor vehicle registered ... in this State, unless coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto, in limits for bodily injury or death set forth in section 287-7, ... for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, ... including death, resulting therefrom[.]
At the time of accident, HRS § 287-7 provided:
[E]very such policy or bond is subject, if the accident has resulted in bodily injury or death, to a limit, exclusive of interest and costs, of not less than $10,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any accident and, subject to such limit for one person, to a limit of not less than $20,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and, if the accident has resulted in injury to or destruction of property, to a limit of not less than $5,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.
(Underscoring added.)
At the time of accident in 1979, the Hawaii no-fault insurance law, HRS § 294-10(a)(1), required:
Liability coverage of not less...
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