Stewart v. STATE FARM MUT. AUTO. INS.

• Decision Date: 30 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 3178.,3178.
• Citation: 533 S.E.2d 597,341 S.C. 143
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: Anthony J. STEWART and Denise Stewart, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent.

341 S.C. 143

533 S.E.2d 597

Anthony J. STEWART and Denise Stewart, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent.

No. 3178.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard May 9, 2000.

Decided May 30, 2000.

Rehearing Denied September 2, 2000.

Justin S. Kahn, of Kahn Law Firm, of Charleston; and Thomas K. Fowler, Jr., of Columbia, for Appellants.

C. Mitchell Brown and William C. Wood, Jr., both of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia, for Respondent.

ANDERSON, Judge:

Anthony and Denise Stewart (Husband and Wife) appeal the order of the Circuit Court granting summary judgment in favor of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The court found Wife's alleged injuries were not compensable under a separate "per person" liability limit of the State Farm policy which provided coverage for Husband's injuries caused by State Farm's insured. We affirm.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The material facts of this case are not in dispute. Husband was involved in an automobile accident with Steven Middleton. Wife was not a witness to the accident and was not at the scene. At the time of the accident, Middleton had liability coverage with State Farm with limits for bodily injury of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.

Husband and Wife brought this declaratory judgment action averring (1) Husband's injuries from the accident resulted in damages in excess of $25,000 and (2) Wife "suffered the loss of the society, companionship, services of her husband along with personal injuries such as emotional distress, physical injury and illness, financial loss, among other losses and has separate and distinct losses apart from those of her husband also believed to be in excess of $25,000.00." The Stewarts declared the policy should be "interpreted and construed to provide coverage and benefits to both Plaintiffs and that both Plaintiffs are separate, injured persons with separate claims and are entitled to payment of Defendant's entire `per incident' coverage for the `bodily injury to two or more persons in any one accident.'" In her affidavit, Wife stated she suffered emotional and physical illness as a result of scress from her husband's accident and from caring for his injuries.

State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment as to the Stewarts' claim that Wife is entitled to separate "per person" coverage under the liability policy in an amount up to $25,000 for her injuries. State Farm contended the claim for damages allegedly suffered by Wife was covered by the single "per person" limit of coverage applicable to the claim of Husband, the full amount of which had been previously tendered to the Stewarts by State Farm. The Circuit Court granted State Farm's motion finding Wife's "injuries are simply consortium damages arising as a consequence of bodily injury to [Husband]," and are covered under the same single "per person" limit of coverage as the direct bodily injury damages of Husband.

ISSUES

I. Did the Circuit Court err in finding Wife's damages are covered only under the same "per person" limit as the bodily injuries of Husband?

II. Did the trial court err in finding there was no coverage for Wife under the State Farm policy?

III. Does South Carolina law require that an automobile liability policy provide separate coverage for loss of consortium?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate when it is clear there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Quality Towing, Inc. v. City of Myrtle Beach, 340 S.C. 29, 530 S.E.2d 369 (2000); Rule 56(c), SCRCP. In determining whether any triable issue of fact exists, as will preclude summary judgment, the evidence and all inferences which can be reasonably drawn therefrom must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Quality Towing, supra. If triable issues exist, those issues must go to the jury. Young v. South Carolina Dep't of Corrections, 333 S.C. 714, 511 S.E.2d 413 (Ct.App.1999).

Summary judgment is not appropriate where further inquiry into the facts of the case is desirable to clarify the application of the law. Carolina Alliance for Fair Employment v. South Carolina Dep't of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, et al., 337 S.C. 476, 523 S.E.2d 795 (Ct.App.1999). All ambiguities, conclusions, and inferences arising from the evidence must be construed most strongly against the moving party. Vermeer Carolina's, Inc. v. Wood/Chuck Chipper Corp., 336 S.C. 53, 518 S.E.2d 301 (Ct.App.1999). Even when there is no dispute as to evidentiary facts, but only as to the conclusions or inferences to be drawn from them, summary judgment should be denied. Fleming v. Rose, 338 S.C. 524, 526 S.E.2d 732 (Ct.App.2000).

Although the court is required to view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, a court cannot ignore facts unfavorable to that party and must determine whether a verdict for the party opposing the motion would be reasonably possible under the facts. Bloom v. Ravoira, 339 S.C. 417, 529 S.E.2d 710 (2000). Summary judgment is a drastic remedy which should be cautiously invoked so no person will be improperly deprived of a trial of the disputed factual issues. Carolina Alliance, supra. Nevertheless, in the rare case where a verdict is not reasonably possible under the facts presented, summary judgment is proper. Bloom, supra.

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. "PER PERSON" LIMIT IN POLICY

The Stewarts argue the Circuit Court erred in finding Wife's damages are covered under the same "per person" limit as the bodily injuries of Husband. We disagree. The Stewarts contend two separate policy provisions, when read together, create an ambiguity in the policy regarding the availability of separate "per person" coverage for Wife. The first provision provides that State Farm will:

1. pay damages which an insured becomes legally liable to pay because of:

a. bodily injury to others.

The second provision relied on by the Stewarts defines "bodily injury" to mean "bodily injury to a person and sickness, disease or death which results from it." Reading the language from these two provisions together, the Stewarts argue the State Farm policy promises to:

1. Pay damages which an insured becomes legally liable to pay because of:

a. bodily injury to a person and sickness, disease or death which results from it to others.

The Stewarts assert this reading creates an ambiguity in the policy which must be resolved in favor of coverage in accordance with Forner v. Butler, 319 S.C. 275, 460 S.E.2d 425 (Ct.App.1995), which holds where the words of an insurance policy are capable of two reasonable interpretations, that construction will be adopted which is most favorable to the insured. They propose that under this reading the policy provides separate "per person" coverage for those individuals who suffer consequential damages as a result of direct bodily injury to someone else. According to the Stewarts, "if a person suffers bodily injury as the result of an automobile accident and sickness, disease or death results from that bodily injury to others, State Farm will pay for the sickness or disease caused `to others' as well." They claim Wife is a "to others" who suffered "sickness and/or disease as a result" of Husband's bodily injury.

Insurance policies are subject to general rules of contract construction. B.L.G. Enterprises, Inc. v. First Financial Ins. Co., 334 S.C. 529, 514 S.E.2d 327 (1999). This Court must enforce, not write, contracts of insurance and we must give policy language its plain, ordinary, and popular meaning. Fritz-Pontiac-Cadillac-Buick v. Goforth, 312 S.C. 315, 440 S.E.2d 367 (1994). All of the policy provisions should be considered, "and one may not, by pointing out a single sentence or clause, create an ambiguity." Yarborough v. Phoenix Mut. Life Ins. Co., 266 S.C. 584, 592, 225 S.E.2d 344, 348 (1976). The meaning of a particular word or phrase is not determined by considering the word or phrase by itself, but by reading the policy as a whole and considering the context and subject matter of the insurance contract. Id.

An insurer's obligation under a policy of insurance is defined by the terms of the policy itself, and cannot be enlarged by judicial construction. MGC Management of Charleston, Inc. v. Kinghorn Ins. Agency, 336 S.C. 542, 520 S.E.2d 820 (Ct.App.1999). Ambiguous or conflicting terms in an insurance policy must be construed liberally in favor of the insured and strictly against the insurer. Diamond State Ins. Co. v. Homestead Indus., Inc., 318 S.C. 231, 456 S.E.2d 912 (1995). However, if the intention of the parties is clear, courts have no authority to torture the meaning of policy language to extend or defeat coverage that was never intended by the parties. Id. See also S.S. Newell & Co. v. American Mut. Liab. Ins. Co., 199 S.C. 325, 19 S.E.2d 463 (1942) (rule of strict construction against insurer does not apply where language used in policy is so plain and unambiguous as to leave no room for construction).

The rule of strict construction does not authorize a perversion of language or the exercise of inventive powers for the purpose of creating an ambiguity where none exists. S.S. Newell & Co., supra. When a contract is unambiguous, clear, and explicit, it must be construed according to the terms the parties have used. B.L.G. Enterprises, supra. The judicial function of a court of law is to enforce an insurance contract as made by the parties, and not to rewrite or to distort, under the guise of judicial construction, contracts, the terms of which are plain and unambiguous. S.S. Newell & Co., supra. It is not the province of the courts to construe contracts broader than the parties have elected to make them or to award benefits where none was intended. Id.

By inserting in toto the definition of bodily injury into the policy phrase "bodily injury to others," the Stewarts are attempting an artificial construction...