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Cooper Hospital University Medical Center v. Prudential Insurance Co.6/27/2005
ability, uninsured motorist, and PIP coverages comparable to those which are mandatory in New Jersey issued policies " for both in-state and non-State residents. GEICO, supra, 358 N.J. Super. at 565-66. This dichotomy between two types of affiliated insurers -- those insurers required to provide PIP benefits to some New Jersey residents only and insurers who must provide PIP coverage to protect New Jersey and non-New Jersey residents -- is purposeful. "The amendment clearly was designed to lessen the burden on those out-of-state insurance companies which did not conduct auto insurance business in New Jersey and whose New Jersey affiliates also did not conduct auto insurance business." Craig & Pomeroy, New Jersey Auto Insurance Law, Comment 1:2-11 (2005). Conversely, the amendment did not effect a change in the coverage required of either out-of-state companies authorized to conduct auto insurance business in New Jersey or out-of-state companies affiliated with companies writing auto insurance in New Jersey.
We find the meaning of the 1998 amendment to be evident. Indeed, all at least agree that when the policy is sold in any other state or in Canada by an insurer that is not itself authorized to sell auto or motor vehicle insurance in New Jersey but that is legally affiliated with a company that is authorized to write non-motor-vehicle-related insurance here, that policy is deemed to include PIP coverage for New Jersey residents who neither have nor are required to have PIP coverage. The confusion over Prudential's coverage in this case -- as an insurer authorized to transact auto insurance business in this State -- stems from the inclusion of this class of insurer in the amendatory text (i.e., the first sentence) as well as in the original version retained virtually intact (i.e., the second sentence). Prudential thus argues that its inclusion in the amendatory text limits its obligation to that stated therein, namely to provide only PIP benefits and only to injured claimants with New Jersey resident status. We reject this argument as fundamentally unsound.
Prudential's construction overlooks the critical fact that the category of insurer to which it belongs is also subject to the original portion of the statute with its broader obligations. Clearly, if Prudential qualified only under the amended section, it would be entitled to the relief it sought below because, pursuant to that section, PIP benefits are only provided "for any New Jersey resident who is not . . . otherwise eligible for such benefits." However, Prudential indisputably falls within the second portion of the statute, which constitutes the deemer statute as it existed before the amendment, and which is connected to the amended version by the phrase "in addition." The use of such conjunctive language as a segue into the original segment clearly indicates that qualifying insurers, such as Prudential, are subject to the broader obligations set forth therein. As we noted in dicta in GEICO, supra:
If the out-of-state carrier is authorized to transact automobile insurance business in this State then it would be subject to the amendment and the original portion of the statute. This insurance company would have to provide the more extensive coverages that were required under the statute before the amendment. [358 N.J. Super. at 568.]
Nothing in Santeez v. State Farm Ins. Co., 338 N.J. Super. 166 (Law Div. 2000), on which Prudential relies, is to the contrary. Significantly, that case did not involve a non-resident injured claimant as here, but rather a State resident who, when operating his vehicle (bicycle) in New Jersey, did not maintain the requisite PIP coverage mandated by N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, and, therefore,
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