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Hobbs v. Hartford Insurance Co. of the Midwest1/21/2005
PUBLISHED
Docket Nos. 97481, 98309 cons.-Agenda 15-November 2004.
At issue in these consolidated appeals is whether an insured may "stack," i.e., aggregate, the limits of liability for underinsured-motorist coverage where multiple vehicles are covered under one policy. The lower courts determined that the policies at issue were ambiguous and must be construed in favor of the insureds to permit stacking. We reverse.
BACKGROUND
No. 97481-Hobbs v. Hartford Insurance Company
In June 2000, plaintiff Lula Hobbs was involved in a motor vehicle accident, allegedly sustaining injuries and damages in excess of $200,000. Hobbs settled claims against the driver of the other vehicle for the driver's policy limits of $50,000. At the time of the accident, Hobbs carried underinsured-motorist coverage for two vehicles under a single policy issued by Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest (Hartford), in the amount of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per occurrence. Pursuant to the underinsured-motorist coverage, Hartford tendered to Hobbs a check in the amount of $50,000. This amount represented the difference between the $100,000 per person underinsured-motorist coverage afforded under Hobbs' policy and the $50,000 Hobbs received from the other driver's insurer. Hobbs maintained, however, that she was entitled to an additional sum from Hartford and, in February 2002, filed a declaratory judgment action in the circuit court of Madison County. In her subsequent motion for summary judgment, Hobbs argued that the Hartford policy was ambiguous as to the limits of underinsured-motorist coverage and that she should be allowed to stack the underinsured-motorist coverage for the two vehicles, thus producing a per-person limit of $200,000. In its cross-motion for summary judgment, Hartford countered that the policy contained unambiguous antistacking language and that the underinsured-motorist bodily injury limit was $100,000 per person. The trial court found that the declarations page of the Hartford policy contained language inconsistent with and contradictory to the antistacking provisions, creating an ambiguity that must be construed in favor of Hobbs to permit stacking. Thus, the trial court declared that the underinsured-motorist bodily injury limit was $200,000 per person. The appellate court affirmed. Hobbs, No. 5-02-0429 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). We allowed Hartford's petition for leave to appeal. See 177 Ill. 2d R. 315.
No. 98309-Anheuser v. Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance
In September 1999, Lee Ann Anheuser was involved in a motor vehicle accident. The car she was driving was owned by her or her parents, Richard and Shirley Anheuser. The Anheusers filed a personal injury and property damage suit in the circuit court of Franklin County against the other driver, Dana Sample, which was eventually settled for Sample's policy limits of $100,000. The Anheusers then sought underinsured-motorist coverage under an auto policy issued by Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company (Prudential) to Richard Anheuser. The Prudential policy covered three vehicles, including the one involved in the accident. A dispute arose as to the amount of underinsured-motorist coverage and, on motion of the Anheusers, their complaint was amended to name Prudential as a defendant. Sample was later dismissed with prejudice, and the case proceeded against Prudential. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.
Prudential maintained that the bodily injury limits under Sample's policy were equal to the underinsured-motorist benefits under the Anheusers' policy: $100,000 per person. Therefore, according to P
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