Westchester Fire Ins. Co. v. Tucker
| Decision Date | 12 June 1974 |
| Docket Number | B--4156,Nos. B--4071,s. B--4071 |
| Citation | 512 S.W.2d 679 |
| Parties | WESTCHESTER FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. Raymond TUCKER, Respondent. Haskell M. DHANE et ux., Petitioners, v. TRINITY UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Fulbright, Crooker & Jaworski, Arno W. Krebs, Jr., Houston, for Westchester Fire Ins. Co.
Malone, Murphy & Fenley, Paul C. Murphy, III and Dan W. Heard, Huntsville, for Tucker.
Carter, Jones, Magee, Rudberg, Moss & Mayes, Charles D. Mayes, Dallas, for Dhane.
Strasburger, Price, Kelton, Martin & Unis, Royal H. Brin, Jr., Dallas, for Trinity Universal Ins. Co.
These two cases present one common question: Are the stated policy limits of the uninsured motorist coverage provided by a single multicar policy containing the provisions discussed below to be 'stacked' or 'pyramided' where necessary to pay damages the named insured or a 'relative' is entitled to recover from an uninsured motorist as the result of a collision while the plaintiff was driving or occupying one of the vehicles covered by the policy? In one of the cases the 14th Court of Civil Appeals at Houston concluded that the question should be answered in the affirmative. Westchester Fire Ins. Co. v. Tucker, Tex.Civ.App., 494 S.W.2d 654. In the other case the 10th Court of Civil Appeals at Waco held to the contrary. Dhane v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co., Tex.Civ.App., 497 S.W.2d 323. We agree with the latter holding. One of the cases involves other questions that will be noticed later.
The facts were stipulated in both cases, and the cases were tried before the court on the stipulations. The essential facts are as follows:
No. B--4071: Westchester Fire Insurance Company issued to Raymond Tucker an automobile insurance policy covering two vehicles, a 1967 Dodge pickup designated as Car 1 and a 1962 Chevrolet fourdoor sedan designated as Car 2. The policy provided uninsured motorist coverage, referred to in the policy as family protection coverage, in the stated limits of $10,000.00 each person and $20,000.00 each accident. A premium of $4.00 was charged for this coverage on Car 1, and a premium of $3.00 for the coverage on Car 2. While driving Car 1, Tucker was in a collision proximately caused by the negligence of an uninsured motorist. Tucker, who was not at fault, brought suit against Westchester to recover the damages sustained by him as a result of the collision, which are stipulated to be in the amount of $15,000.00. Judgment was rendered by the trial court in Tucker's favor for $15,000.00 less the amount previously paid him by Westchester, and the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed.
No. B--4156: Trinity Universal Insurance Company issued to Haskell M. Dhane an automobile insurance policy covering three vehicles, a 1964 Plymouth Valiant designated as Car 1, a 1969 Chevrolet pickup designated as Car 2, and a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere designated as Car 3. The policy provided medical payments coverage on each vehicle in the stated limit of $2,000.00 each person. A premium of $13.00 was charged for this coverage on Car 1, and premiums of $11.00 for the coverage on each of the other two vehicles. The policy also provided family protection coverage in the stated limits of $10,000.00 each person and $20,000.00 each accident. A permium of $4.00 was charged for this coverage on Car 1, and premiums of $3.00 for the coverage on each of the two other vehicles. While driving Car 1, Mrs. Mary E. Dhane, the wife of the named insured, suffered personal injuries in a collision with an uninsured motorist. The collision was proximately caused by the negligence of the uninsured motorist, and Mrs. Dhane was not at fault. As a result of her injuries, she and her husband have incurred medical expenses in excess of $10,000.00. Her damages other than medical expenses already incurred were stipulated to be more than $36,000.00, and Mr. and Mrs. Dhane brought suit against Trinity Universal to recover $6,000.00 medical payment benefits and $30,000.00 uninsured motorist benefits under the policy. The trial court awarded them judgment for the $6,000.00 under medical payment coverage but limited their recovery under the uninsured motorist provisions of the policy to $10,000.00. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed.
The xerographic copies of the insurance policies in the two records are rather difficult to read. According to the briefs, the two policies contain substantially the same provisions. The relevant provisions of the Tucker policy relating to family protection coverage are quoted in the margin. 1
It should be noted at the outset that the provisions governing the limit of the company's liability for damages caused by an uninsured motorist are clear and unambiguous. Our courts and those of certain other jurisdictions have concluded that the 'two or more automobiles' clause gives rise to an ambiguity or, in effect, creates two policies with respect to medical payments coverage. Harlow v. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co., Tex.Civ.App., 439 S.W.2d 365 (wr. ref. n.r.e.); Southwestern Fire and Cas. Co. v. Atkins, Tex.Civ.App., 346 S.W.2d 892 (no writ); Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Sweet, Fla.App., 186 So.2d 95. That clause has no application to the uninsured motorist coverage. It applies only to Parts I, II and III of the policy. The 'pay all sums' clause in Part IV of the policy does not create any doubt or uncertainty as to the extent of the company's liability. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Zellars, Tex.Sup., 462 S.W.2d 550. That clause obviously is not intended and cannot be construed to afford unlimited protection, and plaintiffs do not contend otherwise. It is necessary to look elsewhere to determine the limits of the company's liability, and plaintiffs implicitly recognize this when they insist upon stacking or pyramiding the stated policy limits.
The face of the policy provides that the limit of the company's liability against each coverage indicated by 'specific premium charge or charges' shall be as stated therein. Part IV of the policy stipulates that the limit of liability for family protection stated in the declarations as applicable to each person is the limit of the company's liability for all damages sustained by one person as the result of any one accident. Upon turning to the declarations, we find that the stated limits of liability are $10,000.00 for each person and $20,000.00 for each accident. In our opinion the terms of the policy governing family protection coverage make it quite clear that $10,000.00 is the upper limit of the company's liability to any one person for the damages suffered in any one accident.
In American Liberty Ins. Co. v. Ranzau, Tex.Sup., 481 S.W.2d 793, Paula Ranzau was injured while riding as a passenger in an automobile owned by Colonel Raphael. The accident was caused by an uninsured motorist, and United Services Automobile Association paid to the Ranzaus the $10,000.00 uninsured motorist coverage provided by its policy insuring Colonel Raphael's vehicle. Suit was then brought by Paula and her father against the latter's insurer, American Liberty Insurance Company, which had a family combination automobile liability policy in effect on two automobiles owned by Ranzau. The total damages suffered by the Ranzaus was $50,000.00, and they claimed the right to recover $20,000.00 under the uninsured motorist coverage provided by American Liberty. We held: (1) that the 'other insurance' provision of the Ranzau policy was ineffective in so far as it operated to deny or reduce the protection required by our uninsured motorist statute, V.A.T.S. Insurance Code, Art. 5.06--1; and (2) that although the Ranzau policy provided uninsured motorist coverage on two automobiles with a separate premium paid for each vehicle, the Ranzaus were entitled to recover from American Liberty only the sum of $10,000.00 which was the limit of their uninsured motorist protection under its policy. In making the latter holding the Court reasoned as follows:
We agree with the court of civil appeals that Ranzau did not pay an additional premium for or acquire added non-owned automobile protection from an uninsured motorist when he paid the premium of $3.00 for uninsured motorist coverage on the second owned automobile and hence this payment cannot serve as a basis for holding that he has double coverage and can recover two policy limits of $10,000 for injury to one person. Ranzau received such coverage under the basic policy and the premium charged therefor, whether or not the policy covered one or many owned automobiles, and without the payment of an additional premium upon the addition of owned automobiles. Zellars, supra. Moreover, there was consideration for the extra premium of $3.00 upon the addition of the second owned automobile in the protection afforded Ranzau if an insured, while using the second owned automobile, suffered damages at the hands of an uninsured motorist. If it be said that the uninsured motorist premium payment of $3.00 on the second automobile included payment for a second non-owned automobile coverage, and hence would support a doubling of the uninsured motorist limit of $10,000 for injury to one person while riding in a non-owned automobile, it would necessarily follow that the limit would be tripled or quadrupled, by the addition of a third and a fourth automobile, and so on. In our view, this could only follow from proof that a premium was charged and paid for this additional risk exposure and protection; and for the reasons we have indicated this is not shown in the fact of the extra premium of $3.00 attributable to uninsured motorist coverage on the second automobile upon which the Ranzaus rely.
In Tucker, one of the cases now under consideration, the 14th Court of Civil Appeals at Houston noted that the insured had paid and the insured had received 'consideration for the risk exposure for this (uninsured motorist)...
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