Harrison v. Allstate Ins. Co., 93-CA-01050-SCT
| Decision Date | 26 October 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 93-CA-01050-SCT,93-CA-01050-SCT |
| Citation | 662 So.2d 1092 |
| Parties | Dudley Larry HARRISON v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Michael T. Lewis, Lewis & Lewis, Clarksdale; Nancy Allen Wegener, Clarksdale, for appellant.
William C. Griffin, Currie Johnson Griffin Gaines & Myers, Jackson; Le R. Brown, Brandon, for appellee.
Before HAWKINS, C.J., and BANKS and JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., JJ.
BANKS, Justice, for the Court:
In this case we consider whether separate insurance premiums were charged for uninsured motorist coverage under the guise of one lump sum such that the insured is entitled to stacked coverage. We find that separate premiums were charged and remand the case for a determination of damages up to the policy limits.
I.
Dudley Harrison (Harrison) was involved in a motor vehicle accident with Timothy Clark, an uninsured motorist, on May 17, 1991, on Highway 12 in Humphreys County and suffered bodily injuries in excess of $20,000. Harrison was insured under an Allstate automobile policy which insured two vehicles. Prior to amendments, the policy provided uninsured motorist coverage of $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident for each occurrence. Allstate charged a premium of $22.50 for the first car and each additional car thereafter. Thus, an insured would be charged $45 for stacking two vehicles. In 1989, Allstate added Endorsement AU1865-1 to its policies which prohibits stacking. 1 Allstate also amended its billing structure to charge a single premium of $52.40 for uninsured motorist coverage under a policy listing two or more vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the multi-car rate), and charged $28.40 for a policy listing only one vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the single car rate). Prior to October 1989, Allstate charged a separate uninsured motorist premium for each automobile it insured under a policy. As the result of Harrison's accident, Allstate tendered a check for uninsured motorist benefits to him in the amount of $10,000 and paid $1,000 for applicable medical payments coverage. Allstate, however, denied Harrison's claim for an additional $10,000 in uninsured motorist benefits.
On September 25, 1991, Harrison filed suit against Allstate demanding $20,000 in stacked uninsured motorist coverage, and $5,000,000 in punitive damages. Allstate filed a motion for summary judgment requesting the court to find that Harrison was not entitled to any additional uninsured motorist benefits under the policy. In the alternative, Allstate claimed that it did not act in bad faith when denying Harrison's claim, and thus, was not subject to punitive damages. Harrison cross-motioned for partial summary judgment requesting that the court find endorsement AU1865-1 invalid under the rationale that it charges a multiple premium for two vehicles covered for uninsured motorist benefits.
The court found that Mississippi law precluded anti-stacking provisions only where separate premiums are charged for each vehicle. The court found that the language limiting stacking was not ambiguous, but to the contrary, clearly made the point that stacking was not permitted. Relying on an affidavit submitted by Jeffrey Ill, an associate actuary employed by Allstate, the court found that although Harrison's premium was higher than a premium insuring one car, the charge remained constant whether two or more than two vehicles were covered. It was reasoned that "the difference in the premium charged for one vehicle and the premium charged for two or more vehicles reflects solely the difference in expected claim frequency, the number of claims filed, and makes no allowance for increased losses under a multiple vehicle policy."
The court rejected the merits of an opposing affidavit submitted by Michael Barranco, an insurance consultant, who asserted that Allstate's new rate structure was a transparent device to charge separate premiums in the guise of a lump sum. Barranco's affidavit was rejected as insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact because it was not supported by any evidence. Thus, the court found that Harrison was neither entitled to additional uninsured motorist benefits nor punitive damages. Aggrieved, Harrison filed a notice of appeal on September 15, 1993.
II.
Harrison contends that he was charged two uninsured motorist premiums under the guise of one lump sum on his declaration sheet. He argues that although Allstate's endorsement states that only one premium will be charged for uninsured motorist coverage on multiple vehicles, a premium of $52.40 is charged on the declaration sheet for his two vehicles, while the premium for a single vehicle is only $28.40--a $24 difference. Based on this difference, Harrison argues that he was charged separate premiums for his two vehicles and, therefore, is entitled to stacked coverage. Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Brown, 446 So.2d...
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