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Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.11/28/1988
In Harden v. Mass Transit Adm., 277 Md. 399, 354 A.2d 817 (1976), this Court held that, under the pertinent provisions of the Maryland Insurance Code and the Maryland Vehicle Law, now codified in Code (1957, 1986 Repl.Vol.), Art. 48A, §§ 539 through 546, and Code (1977, 1987 Repl. Vol., 1988 Supp.), §§ 17-101 through 17-110 of the Transportation Article, the State of Maryland was not required to provide "no fault" Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits for persons occupying or injured by state motor vehicles, and that a motor vehicle liability insurance policy covering state motor vehicles did not have to contain coverage for such benefits. The issue in the instant case is whether the decision in Harden remains viable.
I.
Before turning to the facts of this case, it would be useful to review the pertinent statutory provisions and the holding in Harden.
A.
Subtitle 35 of the Insurance Code, consisting of §§ 538 through 547A, relates to required coverages in motor vehicle casualty insurance policies issued in Maryland. Among other things, the subtitle mandates coverage for medical, hospital and disability benefits, for uninsured motorist benefits, and for personal injury and property damage liability. Thus, § 539 states that " o policy of motor vehicle liability insurance shall be issued, sold or delivered in this State . . . unless the policy also affords the minimum medical, hospital, and disability benefits set forth herein" for persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. The benefits
prescribed by § 539, commonly known as "Personal Injury Protection" or "PIP" benefits, are payable without regard to fault (§ 540(a)). Section 541(c)(2) requires that "every policy of motor vehicle liability insurance issued . . . in this State . . . shall contain coverage . . . for damages which the insured is entitled to recover from" an uninsured motorist. Under § 541(a) of the Insurance Code, every motor vehicle casualty insurance policy issued in Maryland must provide specified minimum liability coverage.
If an insurance policy "issued, sold, or delivered" in Maryland omits or purports to exclude a particular coverage required by law, the omission or exclusion is ineffective, and the insurance policy will be applied as if the minimum required coverage were contained in the policy. See, e.g., Gable v. Colonial Insurance Company, 313 Md. 701, 703, 548 A.2d 135 (1988), and cases there cited; Lee v. Wheeler, 310 Md. 233, 528 A.2d 912 (1987); Tucker v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 308 Md. 69, 517 A.2d 730 (1986).
Whereas subtitle 35 of the Insurance Code relates to the contents of motor vehicle casualty insurance policies issued, sold, or delivered in Maryland, Title 17 of the Transportation Article of the Code, which is part of "the Maryland Vehicle Law," concerns the "required security" which must be maintained on a "motor vehicle that is required to be registered in" Maryland (§ 17-104(b)). Ordinarily the "required security" is a motor vehicle insurance policy (§ 17-103(a)(1)), although the State Motor Vehicle Administration
may accept another form of security in place of an insurance policy (§ 17-103(a)(2)). As would be expected, the "minimum benefits" which the required security must provide for under the Transportation Article generally parallel the Insurance Code's required cov
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