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Mid-Century Insurance Co. v. Henault9/8/1994
ALEXANDER, J. -- Christine Henault appeals an order of the Pierce County Superior Court granting summary judgment to Mid-Century Insurance Company (Mid-Century), declaring that Henault had no coverage under a policy issued to her by Mid-Century for injuries she sustained after being thrown from her motorcycle. We reverse.
On March 21, 1990, Christine Henault was riding her motorcycle east on 27th Street West in Tacoma. As she proceeded through the intersection of 27th Street and Sunset Drive, a vehicle driven by Jack Curry turned in front of her and struck her motorcycle. Henault was thrown from her motorcycle and landed on the pavement in the westbound lanes of 27th Street.
Soon after Henault was thrown from her motorcycle, Angela Butler, who was driving her vehicle westbound in the left lane of 27th Street, observed "something in the road". She could not immediately identify the object, but as she drove closer, she "could see the broken glass and . . . saw Christine [Henault] lying there". Butler stopped her vehicle. As Butler was stopping, she noticed another vehicle, a truck, following her in the left lane. The truck, which was driven by Tobias Benton, "changed lanes into the right-hand lane" in order to pass Butler's vehicle. A "split-second later [Benton] noticed there was something laying in the roadway that was in lane." Benton attempted to avoid the object in the roadway, but was unsuccessful. Benton's truck struck Henault as she lay in the roadway.
At the time of the accident, Henault did not have insurance coverage for her motorcycle. She did, however, have an insurance policy with Mid-Century covering a pickup truck that was owned by her. The Mid-Century policy included uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) as well as personal injury protection (PIP) coverage.
The UIM coverage provided that Mid-Century would "pay all sums which an uninsured person is legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an underinsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury sustained by the insured person." (Emphasis omitted.) The policy provided, however, that there was no UIM coverage for bodily injury that the insured sustained while occupying an uninsured motor vehicle owned by that person. PIP coverage was provided "for bodily injury to each insured person caused by a motor vehicle accident." (Emphasis omitted.)
Henault sought damages from Curry and eventually settled with him for $25,000, the limit of his automobile liability policy. The amount she received from Curry was, however, less than the amount she claimed as the full extent of her damages due to the accident. Consequently, she filed a claim with Mid-Century in an effort to recover under the UIM provisions of her automobile liability policy the difference between what she received from Curry and the full extent of the damages she sustained as a result of injuries she suffered as a result of being struck by Benton. She also attempted to recover under the PIP provision of her policy with that company. Mid-Century denied her claims. The record does not reflect whether Henault attempted to obtain a recovery from Benton or what the limits of his insurance coverage, if any, are.
Henault demanded that her UIM claim be arbitrated pursuant to the terms of her policy with Mid-Century, presumably alleging that Benton was an underinsured motorist. Mid-Century responded by filing a complaint for declaratory judgment against Henault in Pierce County Superior Court. Mid-Century sought a declaration that it had no duty to arbitrate because Henault was not covered under the UIM or PIP provisions of her policy with Mid-Century for the injuries she sustained as a result of the Marc
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