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Carruth v. Erie Insurance Group9/21/2000
Plaintiffs-appellants Alan B. Carruth, Jacqueline Carruth and Alicia Carruth ( appellants ) appeal the judgment of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in favor of defendant-appellee State Farm Ins. Co. ( appellee ) entered upon motion for summary judgment on Jacqueline and Alicia Carruth's claims for loss of consortium as asserted under two contracts of automobile issuance issued by State Farm which provide underinsured motorist coverage. We find no reversible error and affirm.
The facts of the underlying case are undisputed. On July 23, 1998, Alan B. Carruth suffered injuries in an automobile accident involving Edward A. Deighton. Deighton, not a party to this appeal, was insured under a policy of insurance issued by Erie Insurance Group with limits of liability coverage in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per person and three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) per accident. Appellants were insured under two policies issued by appellee State Farm which provided underinsured motorist coverage. On December 28, 1998, appellants commenced the within action asserting Alan Carruth's personal injury claims and Jacqueline and Alicia Carruth's loss of consortium claims naming as party defendants: appellee State Farm; Edward Deighton and Deighton's insurer, Erie Insurance Group; and Progressive Ins. Co. On June 1, 1999, appellants settled and dismissed their complaints with prejudice against party defendants Deighton and Erie Insurance Group. On June 23, 1999, appellants moved for summary judgment asserting their rights to underinsured motorists benefits for Jacqueline and Alicia's loss of consortium claims under appellee State Farm's policies. Appellee State Farm opposed appellants' motion and moved for summary judgment on the issue of underinsured motorist coverage for appellants' claims. On October 13, 1999, after full briefing of the issues, the trial court denied appellants' motion for summary judgment and granted appellee's motion by entry which stated in pertinent part:
* [Appellants'] motion for summary judgment re: underinsured motorist benefits is denied. [Appellee] State Farm's motion for SJ is granted. Although the court follows [appellants'] definition of amounts actually received, R.C. 3937.18(H) and State Farm's policy (limits of liability, section 1, p. 14) support State Farm's argument that any consortium claim falls within the definition of bodily injury to one person and therefore has already been compensated by tortfeasor's policy limits-thereby leaving no underinsured claim. Furthermore, the court finds SB 20 to be constitutional. The court makes no finding as to other owned vehicle arguments made by both parties. Final.
This timely appeal follows wherein appellants advance two assignments of error for our review.
I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING DEFENDANT-APPELLEE STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SINCE EACH MEMBER OF PLAINTIFF- APPELLANTS' FAMILY IS ENTITLED TO A SEPARATE LOSS OF CONSORTIUM CLAIM.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING DEFENDANT-APPELLEE STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SINCE S.B. 20 DENIES PLAINTIFFS A RIGHT TO A REMEDY IN VIOLATION OF ARTICLE I, SEC. 16 OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION.
In each assignment of error, appellants challenge the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee. Civ.R. 56(C) provides in relevant part:
Summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, written admissions, affidavits, transcripts of evidence in the pending case, and written stipulations of fact, if any, timely filed in the case show that there is genuine iss
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