Henrich v. Harleysville Ins. Companies

• Decision Date: 19 February 1993
• Citation: 533 Pa. 181,620 A.2d 1122
• Parties: Elizabeth M. HENRICH and Charles P. Getz, Appellees, v. HARLEYSVILLE INSURANCE COMPANIES, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 1122

620 A.2d 1122

533 Pa. 181

Elizabeth M. HENRICH and Charles P. Getz, Appellees, v. HARLEYSVILLE INSURANCE COMPANIES, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Oct. 19, 1992.

Decided Feb. 19, 1993.

[533 Pa. 182] Melinda Fisher Nowak, Lancaster, for appellant.

James C. Haggerty, Philadelphia, for amicus curiae Pennsylvania Defense Institute.

Soren P. West, Gaithersburg, MD, for appellees.

David M. Jakobi, Paoli, for amicus curiae Pennsylvania Trail Lawyers Ass'n.

Before NIX, C.J., and FLAHERTY, ZAPPALA, PAPADAKOS and CAPPY, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

PAPADAKOS, Justice.

This is an automobile insurance case. Appellee, Elizabeth M. Henrich, a passenger in her friend's uninsured motor vehicle, was injured when the vehicle veered off a road and struck a tree. At the time of the accident (October 2, 1986), Appellee Henrich herself owned a motor vehicle which was registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but was uninsured. Appellant, the Harleysville Insurance Company ("Harleysville"), had previously issued an automobile insurance policy to Ms. Henrich's father, Appellee Charles P. Getz. The insurance policy provided for uninsured motorist coverage and included the following language:

We will pay damages which a covered person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury:

1. Sustained by a covered person;

and

2. Caused by an accident.

The owner's or operator's liability for these damages must arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the uninsured motor vehicle.

(Emphasis original). Ms. Henrich was clearly a "covered person" under the policy. She was a "family member" as defined in the policy and at the time of the accident she was residing with her father, Mr. Getz.

Ms. Henrich's claim for uninsured motorist benefits under her father's policy was rejected by Harleysville and Ms. Henrich sued. The trial court granted Harleysville's motion for judgment on the pleadings, but the Superior Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings on the grounds that the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law ("MVFRL"), 75 P.S. § 1701, et seq., did not preclude Ms. Henrich from recovering uninsured motorist benefits under her father's insurance policy (as the trial court thought it did).

Harleysville argued that Section 1714 of the MVFRL and the underlying purpose of the law precluded Ms. Henrich from recovering any insurance benefits merely because she owned a registered but uninsured motor vehicle.

Section 1714 of the MVFRL provides:

An owner of a currently registered motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility or an operator or occupant of a recreational vehicle not intended for highway use, motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized pedalcycle or like type vehicle required to be registered under this title cannot recover first party benefits. (Emphasis added)

The policy of the statute is to encourage the purchase of insurance by denying coverage to those who do not. See, Singer v. Sheppard, 464 Pa. 387, 346 A.2d 897 (1975). The Superior Court, however, concluded that that policy was not vitiated by allowing recovery in this case. In return for the premiums paid by Mr. Getz, Harleysville agreed to provide uninsured motorist benefits to covered persons. The Superior Court concluded that Mr. Getz shared in the burden of procuring insurance by paying for covered persons. Moreover, the Superior Court found that nowhere in the MVFRL does it state that owners of uninsured, but registered motor vehicles may not recover uninsured motorist benefits, as opposed to first party benefits. Henrich v. Harleysville Insurance Companies, 403 Pa.Superior Ct. 98, 588 A.2d 50 (1991).

We granted allocatur because of the large number of cases in recent years that have arisen involving Section 1714. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

At 75 P.S. § 1702, the term "first party benefits" is defined as "[m]edical benefits, income loss benefits, accidental death benefits and funeral benefits." The MVFRL treats first party benefits separately from uninsured motorist benefits. First party benefits are addressed in Subchapter B of the statute, while uninsured motorist benefits are addressed in Subchapter C. Section 1714 is located in Subchapter B, and Subchapter C contains no similar exclusion. The Superior Court reasoned in the instant case that since § 1714 specifically states that owners of uninsured, but registered motor vehicles are precluded from...