Lewis v. Erie Ins. Exchange

Citation54 Conn. App. 387,753 A.2d 839
PartiesRobert A. LEWIS, Linda S. Lewis, Husband and Wife and Robert J. Lewis, Appellees, v. ERIE INSURANCE EXCHANGE, Appellant.
Decision Date30 May 2000
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania

Craig R.F. Murphey, Erie, for appellant.

Cynthia M. Daniel, Pittsburgh, for appellees.

Before EAKIN, LALLY-GREEN, and BROSKY, JJ.

LALLY-GREEN, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Erie Insurance Exchange ("Erie"), appeals from the Order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Clarion County granting judgment on the pleadings in favor of Appellees Robert A. Lewis, Linda S. Lewis, and Robert J. Lewis. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I.

¶ 2 The pertinent facts underlying this case are as follows. On November 23, 1992, Erie issued Robert A. Lewis an automobile liability insurance policy, policy no. Q06-0502942-N ("Policy"). In his initial application, Robert A. Lewis requested and received bodily injury liability coverage of $500,000 per person and $500,000 per accident. Also, as part of his initial application, Appellee requested and received reduced uninsured/underinsured ("UM/UIM") coverages in the amount of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident. (Reduced coverage is permitted by § 1734 of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1701 et seq. ("MVFRL")).1 The stacking option also applied to the Policy.

¶ 3 As of July 21, 1997, the Policy was still in full force and effect and provided for the same coverages and premiums as was provided in the initial Policy dated November 23, 1992. It was on this date (July 21, 1997), that Robert A. Lewis's son, Robert J. Lewis, was injured in an automobile accident while riding as a guest passenger in a vehicle insured by another insurance company. As a "resident relative" of Robert A. Lewis, Robert J. Lewis was an "insured" under the Policy. A dispute arose between Appellees and Erie over the amount of underinsured motorist coverage available to Robert J. Lewis.

¶ 4 On April 24, 1998, Appellees filed an action for Declaratory Judgment. Appellees asserted that an election of reduced UM and UIM coverage limits is valid under § 1734 only when the election meets the technical requirements of 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1731.2 One of § 1731's technical requirements is that an insurer must provide the waivers of UM and UIM coverages on separate pages. See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1731(c.1). Further, § 1731 provides that a failure to comply with the § 1731 requirements causes the rejection form to be void and, therefore, the UM and UIM coverage is equal to the bodily liability limits. On the other hand, § 1734 states that a request for reduction of UM or UIM coverages must be made in writing. None of the technical requirements of § 1731 is explicitly set out in § 1734.

¶ 5 Appellees argued that this § 1731 separate-page requirement should also apply to requests for reduced coverages under § 1734. Since Robert A. Lewis signed an Erie form which contained the requests for reduced UM and UIM coverages on the same page and not separate pages, Appellees argued that the requirements of § 1734 were not met. Consequently, they concluded, the Policy was void and unenforceable. Appellees asked the trial court to reform the insurance contract to provide UM/UIM coverages equal to the amount of bodily injury liability coverage, with the stacking option applicable.

¶ 6 Erie filed a motion for summary judgment,3 arguing that § 1731(c.1) does not apply where the issue is the reduction of UM/UIM coverages and not the complete rejection of such coverages. Docket Entry 5. Erie argued alternatively that even if § 1734 required strict technical compliance with the mandates of § 1731, § 1734 does not provide a statutory remedy and the courts are not permitted to imply one. Id.

¶ 7 The trial court treated Erie's motion for summary judgment as a motion for judgment on the pleadings.4 The court granted judgment on the pleadings in favor of Appellees, holding that the selection by Robert A. Lewis of reduced UM/UIM coverages was void and unenforceable because the reduction/waiver forms provided by Erie violated the technical mandates of § 1731. Trial Court Opinion at 3-4. Furthermore, the court ordered reformation of the Policy to provide UM/UIM coverage equal to the Policy's bodily injury liability coverage, with the stacking option applicable. Id. at 4.

¶ 8 Erie asserts the following questions for our review (1) Whether the subject automobile insurance policy properly provides UM/UIM coverage limits of $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident when the named insured, plaintiff Robert A. Lewis, made a written request for coverage in those amounts, which request complies with the requirements of 75 Pa. C.S.A. § 1734?

(2) Even if the insurer must comply with § 1731 in addition to § 1734 before providing UM/UIM coverage limits less than the bodily injury liability limits of the policy, does the MVFRL provide a remedy requiring reformation of the policy to provide more coverage than was purchased?

II.
A.

¶ 9 Our standard and scope of review in matters involving the grant or denial of judgment on the pleadings is as follows:

[Appellate review of an order granting a motion for judgment on the pleadings] is plenary. The appellate court will apply the same standard employed by the trial court. A trial court must confine its consideration to the pleadings and relevant documents. The court must accept as true all well pleaded statements of fact, admissions, and any documents properly attached to the pleadings presented by the party against whom the motion is filed, considering only those facts which were specifically admitted. Further, the court may grant judgment on the pleadings only where the moving party's right to succeed is certain and the case is so free from doubt that trial would clearly be a fruitless exercise.

Kafando v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 704 A.2d 675, 676 (Pa.Super.1998), appeal denied, 557 Pa. 629, 732 A.2d 615 (1998), quoting Steiner v. Bell of Pennsylvania, 426 Pa.Super. 84, 87-89, 626 A.2d 584, 586 (1993). The reviewing court is to determine if the trial court's action respecting the motion for judgment on the pleadings "was based on a clear error of law or whether there were facts disclosed by the pleadings which should properly go to the jury." Kelly v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 414 Pa.Super. 6, 8-10, 606 A.2d 470, 471 (1992) (citation omitted). Since there are no factual issues disclosed by the pleadings that should properly go to the jury, our review is to determine whether the trial court committed a clear error of law.

B.

¶ 10 The MVFRL mandates that an insurer, who issues motor vehicle liability policies, offer its customers UM/UIM coverages in amounts equal to the amount of the bodily injury liability limits of the customers' policies. See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1791(6). In order for an insured to obtain UM/UIM coverages that are lower than the policy's bodily injury liability coverage, the insured must specifically request such levels in accordance with either § 1734 (for reduction), or § 1731 (for complete rejection). 75 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 1734, 1731. In order to address Erie's issues, we must interpret the purpose and meaning of § 1734 and its relationship to § 1731.

¶ 11 The object of all interpretation and construction of statutes is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the General Assembly. 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(b); Pennsylvania Fin. Responsibility Assigned Claims Plan v. English, 541 Pa. 424, 430, 664 A.2d 84, 87 (1995). "The basic tenet of statutory construction requires a court to construe the words of the statute according to their plain meaning." Grom v. Burgoon, 448 Pa.Super. 616, 619-620, 672 A.2d 823, 825 (1996), citing 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1903(a). "When the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, this Court cannot disregard them under the pretext of pursuing the spirit of the statute." Grom, 672 A.2d at 825. Where, however, the statute is unclear or ambiguous, the intent of the legislature is ascertained by reviewing the following: the necessity of the law; the object to be attained by the law; the circumstances under which the law was enacted; and the mischief to be remedied by the law. English, 541 Pa. at 430,664 A.2d at 87. "Our duty to interpret statutes does not include the right to add provisions that the legislature has omitted." Grom, 672 A.2d at 825.

C.

Sections 1734 and 1731 are set out below. Section 1734 provides:

Request for lower limits of coverage

A named insured may request in writing the issuance of coverages under section 1731 (relating to availability, scope and amount of coverage) in amounts equal to or less than the limits of liability for bodily injury.

75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1734. Section 1731 provides, in pertinent part:

Availability, scope and amount of coverage

(a) Mandatory offering.—No motor vehicle liability insurance policy shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this Commonwealth, with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this Commonwealth, unless uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverages are offered therein or supplemental thereto in amounts as provided in Section 1734 (relating to request for lower limits of coverage). Purchase of uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverages is optional.
(b) Uninsured motorist coverage.— Uninsured motorist coverage shall provide protection for persons who suffer injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle and are legally entitled to recover damages therefor from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles. The named insured shall be informed that he may reject uninsured motorist coverage by signing the following written rejection form:

REJECTION OF UNINSURED MOTORIST PROTECTION

By signing this waiver I am rejecting uninsured motorist coverage under this policy, for myself and all relatives residing in my household. Uninsured coverage protects me and relatives living in my
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