Pollard v. Hartford Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 10 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-477,89-477
• Citation: 583 A.2d 79
• Parties: John R. POLLARD v. The HARTFORD INSURANCE COMPANY. Appeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 79

583 A.2d 79

John R. POLLARD v. The HARTFORD INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 89-477 Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Dec. 10, 1990.

Ronald J. Resmini, Providence, for plaintiff.

C. Russell Bengtson, Providence, for defendant.

OPINION

KELLEHER, Justice.

This litigation might be considered to have an international flavor.

John R. Pollard, a resident of the city of Cranston, is before us on appeal from the grant by a Superior Court justice of a motion by Pollard's insurer for summary judgment. Hereafter we shall refer to the insured as Pollard and to the insurer as Hartford.

At issue is Pollard's claim that he is entitled to the benefits afforded by the uninsured-motorist portion of an automobile liability policy issued to Pollard and his wife by Hartford. The uninsured vehicle is described in a police report filed by Police Constable Terence Smith as a "white Honda van." Constable Smith was assigned at the time in question to the Kings Cross Police Station in London, England.

The constable's report indicates that on Thursday, June 30, 1988, at 3:37 p.m., a group of pedestrians was crossing "Hay Market from the Bank of Scotland to the Midland Bank." The pedestrians were forced to scatter as the Honda came down the Hay Market. One pedestrian who "did not move in time" was injured. This unfortunate individual was Pollard. According to the report, as "the van caught his foot, he was pulled to the ground." Pollard suffered a fractured foot and minor injuries to his leg.

The issue before us is whether a restriction in Hartford's policy that explicitly limits uninsured-motorist coverage to accidents and losses occurring within the United States of America, its territories or possessions, Puerto Rico, or Canada is invalid and unenforceable because it is contrary to the language and policy of the statute that requires insurers to provide such coverage.

Pollard argues with vigor that since the uninsured-motorist statute is silent regarding any territorial restrictions, Hartford's restriction must be rejected. On the other hand, Hartford argues that the relevant statutes do not require that uninsured-motorist protection be extended worldwide. In taking this position, counsel points out that this court has, on occasion, upheld policy provisions limiting such coverage.

This court has held on several occasions that the General Assembly enacted G.L.1956 § 27-7-2.1 for the purpose of providing "[u]ninsured-motorist coverage [to] protect[ ] the insured against economic loss resulting from injuries caused by a negligent uninsured operator." DiTata v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Co., 542 A.2d 245, 247 (R.I.1988); Aldcroft v. Fidelity & Casualty Co. of New York, 106 R.I. 311, 318, 259 A.2d 408, 413 (1969); Allstate Insurance Co. v. Fusco, 101 R.I. 350, 356, 223 A.2d 447, 450 (1966).

Pollard's counsel argues that this court has expressly stated in DiTata, 542 A.2d at 247, that contracts for uninsured-motorist coverage must be construed in the light of the public policy mandated by the Legislature, which policy was, and remains, indemnification for an insured's loss rather than the defeat of his or her claim. Pollard also relies on other past pronouncements of this court in which we awarded benefits pursuant to the policy's hit-and-run coverage, even though there was no physical contact between the vehicle hit and the vehicle that "ran" away. ¹ Pollard also relies on other occasions when this court refused to enforce an "excess escape clause" ² and we invalidated a policy provision calling for the reduction of any award by whatever workers' compensation benefits may have been received by the litigant. ³

Pollard also classifies Hartford's geographical limitation as a provision that violates public policy. In support of this assertion, he relies on the holding of Mission Insurance Co. v. Brown, 63 Cal.2d 508, 407 P.2d 275, 47 Cal.Rptr. 363 (1965).

The court in the Mission opinion clearly limited its holding to the particular facts of that case. In Mission the court did not explicitly render all geographical limitations of coverage void. In that dispute the liability portion of the policy afforded extended coverage to Mexico. However, an endorsement added to the uninsured-motorist coverage expressly excluded coverage for the vehicle while it was being operated in Mexico. Such an inconsistency in coverage was determined to be a violation of public policy. The rationale of the Mission opinion was later adopted by the Supreme Court of Arizona in Bartning v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., 162 Ariz. 344, 783 P.2d 790 (1989).

Closer to home, in Heinrich-Grundy v. Allstate Ins. Co., 402 Mass. 810, 811, 525 N.E.2d 651, 652 (1988),...