Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Walls

Citation858 S.E.2d 150,433 S.C. 206
Decision Date03 June 2021
Docket NumberAppellate Case No. 2019-001596,Opinion No. 28012
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of South Carolina
Parties NATIONWIDE MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent, v. Sharmin Christine WALLS, Randi Harper, Wendy Timms in her capacity as Personal Representative of The Estate of Christopher Adam Timms, Deborah Timms, Defendants, Of whom Sharmin Christine Walls and Randi Harper are the Petitioners.

Michael F. Mullinax, of Mullinax Law Firm, P.A., of Anderson, for Petitioner Sharmin Christine Walls; John Kirkman Moorhead, of Moorhead LeFevre, P.A., of Anderson, for Petitioner Randi Harper.

John Robert Murphy and Wesley Brian Sawyer, of Murphy & Grantland, P.A., of Columbia, for Respondent Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

Roy T. Willey, IV, and Eric M. Poulin, both of Anastopoulo Law Firm LLC, of Charleston, for Amicus Curiae United Policyholders. Frank L. Eppes, of Eppes & Plumblee, PA, of Greenville, Bert G. Utsey, III, of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, P.A., of Charleston and Joe Brewer, of the Law Office of D. Josey Brewer, of Greenville, for Amicus Curiae The South Carolina Association for Justice.

ORDER

The petition for rehearing is denied. The attached opinion is substituted for the previous opinion, which is withdrawn.

s/ Donald W. Beatty , C.J.

s/ Kaye G. Hearn , J.

s/ John Cannon Few , J.

We would grant the petition for rehearing and affirm the court of appeals’ decision.

s/ John W. Kittredge , J.

s/ George C. James, Jr. , J.

JUSTICE HEARN :

In this declaratory judgment action, Nationwide relies on flight-from-law enforcement and felony step-down provisions1 in an automobile liability insurance policy to limit its coverage to the statutory mandatory minimum. Following a bench trial and after issuance of this Court's opinion in Williams v. Government Employees Insurance Co. (GEICO) , 409 S.C. 586, 762 S.E.2d 705 (2014), the circuit court held the step-down provisions were void pursuant to Section 38-77-142(C) of the South Carolina Code (2015). The court of appeals reversed. We now reverse the court of appeals and hold that section 38-77-142(C) renders Nationwide's attempt to limit the contracted-for liability insurance to the mandatory minimum void.

FACTS

Three individuals—Sharmin Walls, Randi Harper, and Christopher Timms—were passengers in a vehicle driven by Korey Mayfield that crashed in Anderson County on July 11, 2008 following a high-speed chase by law enforcement. On the day of the accident, the group left from Walls’ home in Walls’ vehicle, a Chevrolet Lumina, driven by Mayfield. A trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol activated his blue lights after observing the Lumina traveling approximately twelve miles over the speed limit and swerving over the center line. Mayfield refused to pull over, and during the chase, the trooper's vehicle reached speeds of 109 miles per hour. All the passengers begged Mayfield to stop the car, but Mayfield refused. Eventually, the trooper received instructions to terminate the pursuit, which he did. Nevertheless, Mayfield continued speeding and lost control of the vehicle. Timms died in the single-car accident, and Walls, Harper, and Mayfield sustained serious injuries. After being charged with reckless homicide, Mayfield entered an Alford plea. North Carolina v. Alford , 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970).

At the time of the accident, Walls’ automobile was insured through her Nationwide policy, which included bodily injury and property damage liability coverage with limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence. Walls also maintained uninsured motorist (UM) coverage for the same limits, but she did not have underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. Walls’ liability policy contained the following provisions:

B. This coverage does not apply, with regard to any amounts above the minimum limits required by the South Carolina Financial Responsibility Law as of the date of the loss, to:
...
6. Bodily injury or property damage caused by:
a) you;
b) a relative; or c) anyone else while operating your auto;
(1) while committing a felony; or
(2) while fleeing a law enforcement officer.

In reliance on those provisions, Nationwide paid only $50,000 in total to the injured passengers—the statutory minimum as provided by section 38-77-140—rather than the liability limits stated in the policy. S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-140(A)(2) (2015). Safe Auto, Mayfield's insurance company, also paid a total of $50,000 to the passengers.

Nationwide brought this declaratory judgment action requesting the court declare that the passengers were not entitled to combined coverage of more than $50,000 for any claims arising from the accident. Walls answered, denying there was any evidence that the flight-from-law enforcement and felony provisions applied.2

Following a bench trial, the circuit court held in part that Mayfield was a non-permissive user and that the provisions at issue were unconscionable and void as against public policy. Thus, the circuit court held that Walls, Harper, and Timms’ estate were entitled to recover $100,000 per person pursuant to the liability limits in Walls’ policy. In the alternative, the court found that due to Mayfield's conduct in attempting to elude the police, the vehicle would be deemed uninsured as to the innocent passengers, and they should be entitled to recover pursuant to the UM provisions of the policy.

Two days after the issuance of the circuit court's order, Williams v. GEICO , 409 S.C. 586, 762 S.E.2d 705 (2014) was decided. Nationwide filed a Rule 59(e), SCRCP, motion. At the hearing on that motion, the passengers abandoned their argument with respect to UM coverage. In its post-trial order, the circuit court found that Mayfield was committing a felony and fleeing from the police at the time of the accident. Nevertheless, the circuit court held that the Williams decision prohibited step-down provisions pursuant to section 38-77-142(C).

Nationwide appealed, and the court of appeals reversed, holding the provisions did not violate our state's public policy or the statutory schemes of Titles 38 and 56.

Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Walls , 427 S.C. 348, 360, 831 S.E.2d 131, 138 (Ct. App. 2019). More specifically, the court of appeals noted that the Williams decision interpreted section 38-77-142(C) to prohibit provisions that reduced the contracted-for coverage to the mandatory minimum limit when "the policy's declaration page purport[ed] to provide a higher amount of coverage to a certain class of insureds." Id. at 358, 831 S.E.2d at 136-37 (citing Williams , 409 S.C. at 603, 762 S.E.2d at 714 ). The court of appeals distinguished the family step-down provision at issue in Williams from the provisions in this case because Nationwide's provisions were not triggered by a party's relationship to the insured, but rather, by the conduct of the driver. Walls , 427 S.C. at 358, 831 S.E.2d at 137. Furthermore, the court of appeals noted that full coverage remained when injury was not the result of "foreseeably dangerous conduct that the insured [could] reasonably avoid." Id. at 358-59, 831 S.E.2d at 137. The court of appeals also held that pursuant to section 56-9-20 of the South Carolina Code (2018), insurers were permitted to place reasonable restrictions on coverage above the minimum limits. Id. at 359, 831 S.E.2d at 137 (quoting S.C. Code Ann. § 56-9-20(5)(d) (2018) ). Therefore, the court of appeals held the provisions were not arbitrary or capricious, and further, the statutory mandatory minimum coverage provided protection to innocent passengers of a vehicle evading law enforcement. Walls , 427 S.C. at 359-60, 831 S.E.2d at 137. This appeal—in which only Walls and Harper are involved as appellants—followed.

ISSUE PRESENTED

Do Nationwide's felony and flight-from-law enforcement step-down provisions violate section 38-77-142(C) ?3

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"A suit for declaratory judgment is neither legal nor equitable, but is determined by the nature of the underlying issue." Felts v. Richland Cty. , 303 S.C. 354, 356, 400 S.E.2d 781, 782 (1991). The determination of whether coverage exists under an insurance policy is an action at law. S.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Kennedy , 398 S.C. 604, 610, 730 S.E.2d 862, 864 (2012) (quoting Crossmann Cmtys. of N.C., Inc. v. Harleysville Mut. Ins. Co. , 395 S.C. 40, 46, 717 S.E.2d 589, 592 (2011) ). " ‘In an action at law tried without a jury, the appellate court will not disturb the trial court's findings of fact unless there is no evidence to reasonably support them.’ " Bell v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co. , 407 S.C. 565, 576, 757 S.E.2d 399, 404 (2014) (quoting Crossmann , 395 S.C. at 46-47, 717 S.E.2d at 592 ). "However, an appellate court may make its own determination on questions of law and need not defer to the trial court's rulings in this regard." Kennedy , 398 S.C. at 610, 730 S.E.2d at 864 (citing Crossmann , 395 S.C. at 47, 717 S.E.2d at 592 ).

DISCUSSION

Harper and Walls argue that section 38-77-142(C), as interpreted by this Court in Williams , prohibits any step-down provisions in a liability policy's coverage. Nationwide contends that section 38-77-142 operates as a mere omnibus provision, defining who must be covered in a liability policy, and that subsection (C) requires that policies not treat covered parties differently from one another. We agree with Harper and Walls.

Section 38-77-142(C) states, "Any endorsement, provision, or rider attached to or included in any policy of insurance which purports or seeks to limit or reduce the coverage afforded by the provisions required by this section is void." S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-142(C) (2015). Subsections (A) and (B) specify who must be covered in liability insurance policies, including named insureds and permissive users, as well as what injuries must be covered. S.C. Code Ann. § 38-77-142(A) - (B) (2015). More specifically, subsection (A) states in...

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1 books & journal articles
  • Step-down or Step-on?
    • United States
    • South Carolina Bar South Carolina Lawyer No. 33-4, January 2022
    • Invalid date
    ...the civil litigation division of the Anastopoulo Law Firm, LLC in Charleston. --------- Notes: [1] Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Walls, 433 S.C. 206, 209, 858 S.E.2d 150, 151 (2021). [2] Id. [3] Id. [4] Id. at 210, 858 S.E.2d at 152. [5] Id. at 209, 858 S.E.2d at 151-52. [6] S.C. Code An......

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