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Opperman v. Pruisner3/15/2000
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, K.D. Briner, Judge.
Oppermans appeal from the court's grant of summary judgment for Allied in a personal injury case. AFFIRMED.
William and Debra Opperman have a personal automobile insurance policy with Allied Mutual Insurance Company. The policy prohibits suit against Allied for underinsurance coverage "on any claim that is barred by the tort statute of limitations." We must decide whether this language bars the Oppermans' action against Allied. We conclude it does, and affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
On December 18, 1995, the Oppermans stopped their car at a Waterloo intersection. Sara Pruisner ran a red light at the intersection and hit another car driven by Cynthia Gitch, which in turn ran into the Oppermans' car.
On December 7, 1997, the Oppermans sued Pruisner and Gitch for damages resulting from the accident. On October 9, 1998, the district court granted the Oppermans leave to amend the petition to add an underinsurance claim against Allied. Allied moved for summary judgment, asserting a statute of limitations defense. The district court granted the motion. This appeal followed.
II. Standard of Review
We review summary judgments at law. Iowa R. App. P. 4. Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Iowa R. Civ. P. 237(c); Compiano v. Hawkeye Bank & Trust of Des Moines, 588 N.W.2d 462, 464 (Iowa 1999). During oral arguments, the Oppermans conceded no genuine issue of material fact existed. Therefore, we need only decide whether Allied is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
III. Statute of Limitations
The parties ask us to construe the following language contained in the Oppermans' policy: " e may not be sued under the Underinsured Motorist coverage on any claim that is barred by the tort statute of limitations." The tort statute of limitations in Iowa is two years. Iowa Code ยง 614.1(2) (1997). The Oppermans contend this policy provision required them to sue only the tortfeasors and not the underinsurance carrier within two years from the date of the accident. Because they did so, the Oppermans assert they tolled the statute of limitations as to their claim against Allied. Allied counters that this policy language required the Oppermans to also sue their underinsurance carrier within two years. Because the Oppermans failed to do so, Allied maintains their suit is time barred.
We construe an insurance policy only when the terms are ambiguous or unclear. Farm & City Ins. Co. v. Anderson, 509 N.W.2d 487, 490-91 (Iowa 1993). The test for ambiguity is whether a reasonable person would read more than one meaning into the words. Id. at 491. The parties' mere disagreement as to the meaning of terms does not automatically establish an ambiguity. Id.
We conclude the only reasonable interpretation of the disputed clause is the one proffered by Allied. Because the language is not susceptible to two reasonable interpretations, the clause is not ambiguous. See Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Bd. v. Farmland Mut. Ins. Co., 568 N.W.2d 815, 819 (Iowa 1997).
While the parties have presented us with an issue of first impression, the Iowa Supreme Court's holding in Morgan v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., 534 N.W.2d 92 (Iowa 1995) is enlightening. There, the court was asked to construe the word "claim" in an insurance policy clause identical to the language at issue here, with the single exception that the clause pertained to uninsured rather than un
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