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Poper v. Rollins8/15/2001
This is an uninsured motorist insurance case. The plaintiff's wife died as a result of injuries suffered in an automobile accident involving multiple vehicles. The husband sued several defendants for wrongful death. He settled out of court with all but one defendant. The single remaining defendant had only $10,000 in liability insurance coverage. The insurance company of the remaining defendant offered to settle for the full policy limit. The husband had an uninsured motorist insurance policy with $100,000 in coverage, and he sued his uninsured motorist insurance carrier for damages beyond the policy limits of the remaining defendant's insurance. The uninsured motorist insurance carrier refused, asserting that the husband had collected more than the $100,000 uninsured motorist policy limit from the other defendants who had settled with the husband previously. The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer. On appeal, we affirm, finding that, under Tennessee Code Annotated ยง 56-7-1201(d), the uninsured motorist insurance carrier is entitled to offset the amounts collected from the defendants who had previously settled.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed
Holly Kirby Lillard, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which David R. Farmer, J. and Hewitt P. Tomlin, Jr., Sp . J., joined.
OPINION
This is an uninsured motorist insurance case. In this case, Linda G. Poper was seriously injured in an automobile accident in August 1994 that involved several vehicles. In January 1996, she died as a result of those injuries. Her husband, Thomas C. Poper, filed suit against the driver of each vehicle for negligence resulting in the wrongful death of his wife. He also sued General Motors Corporation, the manufacturer of his wife's car, asserting products liability.
Poper subsequently settled out of court with all but one of the defendants. He received a total of $530,000 from those settlements, including $400,000 from General Motors. The only defendant with whom Poper did not settle was Joseph E. Rollins. Mr. Rollins's liability insurer provided only $10,000 in coverage, and his insurer offered to settle for the full policy amount.
Poper had an uninsured motorist insurance policy with Farmers Mutual Exchange Insurance ("Farmers"), with policy limits of $100,000. Poper served Farmers with a copy of his lawsuit, asserting that Farmers was liable for the excess loss not covered by Rollins's liability insurance. Farmers denied liability, arguing that Poper had exceeded the policy limits of the uninsured motorist policy because he had collected more than $100,000 from the defendants with whom he had previously settled.
Poper asserted that it was unclear whether Rollins's liability insurance covered the portion of the loss caused by Rollins; therefore, Farmers would be liable for any loss not covered by Rollins's insurance. Poper pointed to the language of his uninsured motorist insurance policy, which stated:
We will pay all sums which an insured person is legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury sustained by the insured person . . . .
Poper argued from this that Farmers would be deemed liable if the remaining defendant was the owner of an "uninsured motor vehicle." The policy defined "uninsured motor vehicle" as a motor vehicle:
a. To which the sum of all limits of liability available to the insured person under all valid and collectible insurance policies, bonds, and securities applicable to the bodily injury or property damage is less than the applicable limits show
Page 1 2 3 Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys
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