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Eaquinta v. Allstate Insurance Co.11/15/2005
In this case we must determine whether an insurance company is required to provide underinsured motorist ("UIM") coverage to its insured for the death of a person who is not covered under the relevant insurance policy. The district court held that neither the UIM provision of appellant Glorya Eaquinta's insurance policy nor Utah's insurance code required the appellee, Allstate Insurance Company, to provide UIM coverage to Glorya Eaquinta for the death of her son because he was not covered under her insurance policy. This appeal followed. We now affirm.
BACKGROUND
On February 14, 2003, Glorya Eaquinta's son, Nicholas Eaquinta, forty-three, died due to injuries he received from an automobile accident. Immediately prior to the accident, Nicholas Eaquinta had been driving his girlfriend's car. When he exited the car to retrieve items from the trunk, he was struck by a truck. At the time of the accident, Nicholas Eaquinta did not own a vehicle, was not individually insured, did not reside with Glorya Eaquinta, and was not a named driver on any insurance policy covering either of the vehicles involved in the accident or on Glorya Eaquinta's insurance policy.
After Nicholas Eaquinta's heirs settled with the insurance companies of both vehicles involved in the accident, Glorya Eaquinta made a claim for UIM benefits under her automobile insurance policy with Allstate. Under the terms of that policy, UIM coverage was limited to "an insured person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury sustained by an insured person." (Original emphasis removed) (emphasis added). Allstate denied Glorya Eaquinta's claim on the ground that Nicholas Eaquinta was not an insured person covered by the UIM provision of the insurance policy because he was not named in the policy or as a member of Glorya Eaquinta's household.
Glorya Eaquinta subsequently brought this action against Allstate. She conceded to the district court that she was not entitled to UIM benefits under the language of her policy, but argued that the policy was preempted by the statutory requirements contained in the Utah Insurance Code. Allstate made a motion for summary judgment claiming that the Utah Insurance Code does not require insurers to cover the type of loss sustained by Glorya Eaquinta. The district court granted Allstate's motion. The court held that the language of Glorya Eaquinta's policy did not provide coverage for her son's accident and that Utah's Insurance Code does not require UIM coverage for the death of an adult relative who was not occupying the named insured's vehicle or residing in the named insured's household.
This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code section 78-2-2(3)(j)(2002).
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Glorya Eaquinta admits that she is not entitled to UIM benefits under the terms of her Allstate insurance policy, which expressly limits her recovery to instances where an insured person sustains injuries. She argues, however, that this restrictive language is preempted by the requirements contained in the Utah Insurance Code. Therefore, the question of whether Glorya Eaquinta is entitled to recover under the UIM provision of her policy is a matter of statutory interpretation, a question of law, which we review for correctness. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Green, 2003 UT 48, 44, 89 P.3d 97.
ANALYSIS
There is only one issue presented on appeal: Does Utah's Insurance Code mandate that Allstate provide UIM coverage to Glorya Eaquinta for the wrongful death of her son, when her son was not named in her insurance policy and did
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