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Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund v. Perry12/8/1999
Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund v. Ralph Perry
No. 43, Sept. Term, 1999
Owner of insured vehicle with PIP coverage not disqualified from receiving PIP benefits for injuries sustained while occupying insured vehicle because owner also owns another uninsured vehicle.
In January, 1994, respondent, Ralph Perry, owned two cars - a 1991 Chevrolet that was insured by the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund (MAIF) and a 1990 Chevrolet that was uninsured. On January 24, while driving the insured vehicle, he was in an accident and, as a result, incurred medical expenses and wage losses aggregating $1,373. His MAIF insurance policy contained Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage that provided for the payment of up to $2,500 for such medical expenses and wage losses. Notwithstanding that coverage, MAIF refused to pay the benefits, contending that (1) Perry's ownership of an uninsured vehicle caused him to be in violation of Maryland Code, § 17-103 of the Transportation Article, and (2) as a result of that violation, payment of the PIP benefits was precluded by Maryland Code, Article 48A, § 543(b)(2), which appears now as § 19-513(c)(2) of the Insurance Article.
Aggrieved at that response, Perry sued MAIF in the district court and lost. On appeal, however, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City reversed and entered judgment for Perry. We granted MAIF's petition for certiorari to consider whether Perry's ownership of an uninsured vehicle bars him from recovering PIP benefits under the MAIF policy. We shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
Maryland law requires that the owners of motor vehicles required to be registered have certain minimum insurance coverage (or comparable security acceptable to the Motor Vehicle Administration). It requires insurance companies writing motor vehicle insurance in Maryland to offer that minimum coverage as well as certain other coverages that an insured may opt to decline or limit. The requirements imposed upon vehicle owners to have the mandated security are provided for in title 17 of the Transportation Article. The requirements imposed upon insurance companies to offer the specified coverages are found in title 19, subtitle 5 of the Insurance Article. In a nutshell, the Transportation Article focuses on the owners and drivers of motor vehicles; the Insurance Article focuses on insurance companies and their insureds. The two parts of the Code obviously need to be read together, in harmony.
Section 17-104 of the Transportation Article requires the owners of motor vehicles subject to registration in Maryland to maintain certain required security during the registration period and prohibits the Motor Vehicle Administration from issuing or transferring the registration of a motor vehicle unless the owner or prospective owner furnishes satisfactory evidence that the required security is in effect. The nature and extent of the required security is set forth in § 17-103. With exceptions not relevant here, that section requires the security to be in the form of an insurance policy providing (1) liability coverage for bodily injury or death arising from an accident of up to $20,000 for one person and up to $40,000 for two or more persons; (2) liability coverage for damage to the property of others of up to $10,000; (3) unless waived, the benefits described under § 19-505 of the Insurance Article as to basic primary coverage (PIP coverage); and (4) the benefits required under § 19-509 of the Insurance Article as to required additional coverage (uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage). A person who fails to maintain the required security is subject to a variety of civil penalties, including suspension of the pers
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