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Poper v. Rollins11/26/2002
BACKGROUND
In January of 1996, Linda Poper died from injuries sustained seventeen months earlier in a multi-vehicle accident in Memphis, Tennessee. Her husband, Thomas C. Poper, filed suits against the drivers of the vehicles for wrongful death and a suit against the manufacturer of his wife's vehicle, General Motors Corporation, for products liability. Poper later settled all the suits but one for a total of $530,000, including $400,000 from General Motors.
The remaining defendant, Joseph Rollins, had a liability limit of $10,000 under his insurance policy, and his insurer offered to settle for the full policy amount. Poper declined the settlement offer and instead filed suit against his uninsured motorist insurance carrier, Farmers Mutual Exchange Insurance ("Farmers"), alleging that Farmers was liable for the amount by which its limits on uninsured motorist liability ($100,000) exceeded the limits of liability under Rollins' insurance policy ($10,000). Farmers denied liability, asserting that the total amounts Poper collected in his settlements with the other defendants ($530,000) exceeded the $100,000 limit of his policy and that it was entitled to an offset.
At trial, Farmers moved for summary judgment under Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201(d), which states:
The limit of liability for an insurer providing uninsured motorist coverage under this section is the amount of that coverage as specified in the policy less the sum of the limits collectible under all liability and/or primary uninsured motorist insurance policies, bonds, and securities applicable to the bodily injury or death of the insured. (emphasis added).
Pursuant to this statute, Farmers argued that it was entitled to credit for the total amount of settlement money paid to Poper by all of the defendants and accordingly, it was not responsible for paying any of Poper's claim. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Farmers.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals concluded that under Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201(d), the total settlement recovery received by Poper could be used to offset Farmers' liability under the uninsured motorist policy. The trial court's judgment was therefore affirmed.
We granted Poper's application for permission to appeal.
ANALYSIS
In his appeal to this Court, Poper argues that Farmers should be liable for any loss within the limits of its uninsured motorist policy not covered by the liability insurance policy of the remaining defendant, Joseph Rollins. Poper contends that Rollins's automobile squarely fits within the policy's definition of "uninsured motor vehicle" and that the policy phrase "to which" means that only insurance applicable to Rollins's car can be credited to offset the coverage provided by Poper's uninsured motorist policy. In addition, Poper contends that the uninsured motorist policy must be construed in light of the system of comparative fault adopted in McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992), under which each tortfeasor is liable for only his own percentage of fault. In sum, Poper argues that Farmers should not be able to offset its liability by the sums collected from other defendants.
Farmers responds that the terms of the uninsured motorist policy, as well as Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201(d), allow it to cap its liability by offsetting the amounts of any insurance recoveries covering the applicable injury or death. Farmers also argues that the Court of Appeals correctly determined that the plain language of the statute was not affected by the principles of comparative fault adopted in McIntyre.
We begin our analysis by reviewing princip
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