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Pexa v. Auto Owners Insurance Co.9/1/2004
Insured appeals adverse judgment entered by district court in his suit for underinsured motorist benefits. AFFIRMED.
The plaintiff, Raymond Pexa, sued the appellant, Auto Owners Insurance Company, for underinsured motorist benefits. After the jury returned a verdict finding Pexa's damages to be less than the amount previously paid by the underinsured tortfeasor, the district court entered judgment in favor of the defendant. Pexa appeals, claiming error in various evidentiary rulings made by the district court, error in the court's instructions to the jury, and error in the trial court's denial of Pexa's motion for new trial. We affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
The plaintiff was injured in an automobile accident with an intoxicated driver on August 17, 1999. The other driver, Michael Wilson, was at fault. After the collision, Pexa had to be extricated from his vehicle; he was then transported to the hospital. When he was seen in the emergency room, the plaintiff, who was seventy-seven years old, was somewhat confused and was observed to have bruises on his forehead and a small laceration on his nose. Subsequent tests revealed Pexa had a nondisplaced pelvic fracture, which was treated with pain medication. Due to the plaintiff's hypotension, he was initially admitted to the intensive care unit. Additional tests were conducted to rule out any internal bleeding. Six days later his condition had stabilized and he was transferred to the skilled nursing facility for physical therapy and further monitoring. He had quite a lot of pain at first and was slow in regaining his strength. Pexa was eventually discharged on September 21, 1999, using a cane. In all, he spent thirty-four days in the hospital.
Pexa's medical bills totaled $41,544, which were satisfied by his health insurer and Medicare benefits. The actual amount paid by the insurer and the Medicare program, however, was only $15,950.29, due to contractual agreements between the payors and the medical care providers. The difference between the billed amount and the amount paid was written off by the hospital and other providers.
Pexa settled his personal injury claim against Wilson for the limits of Wilson's liability coverage, $100,000. Pexa's automobile insurer, Auto Owners, consented to the settlement.
Pexa then brought the present action against Auto Owners to recover benefits under his underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. This coverage, which carried a $100,000 limit, provided:
We will pay compensatory damages any person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an underinsured automobile because of bodily injury sustained when occupying or getting into or out of an automobile that is covered by SECTION II - LIABILITY COVERAGE of the policy.
The policy limited recovery under the UIM coverage for any one occurrence to the amount of compensatory damages because of or arising out of bodily injury to such injured person that are not recovered from the liability bond(s) or insurance policy(s) applying to the owner and operator of the underinsured automobile because such bond(s) or policy(s) has been exhausted by the payment of judgments or settlements.
There was no dispute between the parties that pursuant to these contractual provisions, Auto Owners was obligated to pay Pexa the amount of compensatory damages Pexa was legally entitled to recover from the tortfeasor, but only to the extent those damages exceeded the $100,000 settlement already paid by the tortfeasor's liability insurer and subject to Auto Owner's policy limit of $100,000. Although Auto Owners admitted the tortfeasor's liability for the accident, it c
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