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Fickbohm v. St. Paul Insurance Company12/23/2002
Plaintiffs Darlene Fickbohm and Jean Jarvis (referred to jointly as Plaintiffs or individually as Fickbohm and Jarvis) appeal from the district court's order permitting St. Paul Insurance Company (St. Paul) to offset from Plaintiffs' uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) arbitration awards the amount it paid to Plaintiffs under the medical payments (medpay) portion of their respective automobile insurance policies. Although Plaintiffs' briefs are framed as raising ten and nine issues respectively, they in fact raise multiple arguments with regard to one issue: that St. Paul should not have been allowed to offset from their UM and UM/UIM arbitration awards the amounts it had previously paid Plaintiffs under their medpay coverage. We consolidate the appeals for purposes of this opinion and affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The material facts in this case are undisputed. In 1995 Fickbohm and Jarvis were each injured in separate collisions with automobiles whose owners and drivers were underinsured (Fickbohm) or uninsured (Jarvis). At the time of the accidents Fickbohm was the named insured (Class I insured) on an automobile insurance policy with St. Paul, and Jarvis was a covered insured (Class II insured) on an insurance policy with St. Paul issued to her employers. Fickbohm's policy included UM/UIM coverage of $100,000 and medpay coverage of $5000. Jarvis' policy included UM/UIM coverage of $250,000 and medpay coverage of $5000. In each instance separate premiums were paid for the UM/UIM and the medpay coverage.
As a result of Plaintiffs' injuries in their respective accidents, St. Paul initially paid $5000 under each Plaintiff's medpay coverage. Fickbohm also received $25,000 from the tortfeasor, which represented the limits of his policy. St. Paul had earlier given Fickbohm written permission to accept the award and waived subrogation against the tortfeasor on the medical payments claim. After failed attempts to settle their claims against St. Paul, each Plaintiff initiated arbitration proceedings of their UM/UIM claims. Each Plaintiff received an arbitration award (Fickbohm $95,000 and Jarvis $80,000). After deducting the amount paid by the underinsured motorist, the amount due from St. Paul pursuant to Fickbohm's UM/UIM coverage was $70,000. In each case, when St. Paul paid the UM/UIM arbitration award it deducted the $5000 it had previously paid under medpay coverage. Thus, St. Paul paid Fickbohm $65,000 and Jarvis $75,000.
After receiving St. Paul's payment, less the medpay offset, Fickbohm and Jarvis filed separate complaints seeking confirmation of the full award. St. Paul filed a motion to dismiss or, alternatively, motion for summary judgment, in each case, arguing that it had fully paid the arbitration award and was entitled to offset medpay payments from the UM/UIM awards. With the parties' consent, the district court held one hearing in both cases. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of St. Paul on the offset issue, stating:
In my view, in reviewing the contract, the contract intended that there not be provision for separate recovery under the medpay section and the uninsured motorist section. I'm reading the contract as a whole. I certainly don't see it that way.
I can say with almost absolute certainty that this was the -- what the parties envisioned. I certainly -- and Ms. Fickbohm and Ms. Jarvis as a Class II insured are certainly not going to read the provisions precisely. But I think it's clear that what was intended under this contract was that there not be separate recoveries for medpay coverage when there is additional recovery for the uninsured motorist claim.
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