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Clinton v. West American Insurance Co.3/28/2005
Opinion
Submitted February 1, 2005
AFFIRMED
Debra Clinton appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment to West American Insurance Company, finding West American made a meaningful offer of underinsured motorist coverage. We affirm.
In reviewing the grant of a summary judgment motion, this court applies the same standard which governs the trial court: summary judgment is proper when "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Rule 56(c), SCRCP; Baughman v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 306 S.C. 101, 114-15, 410 S.E.2d 537, 545 (1991). "In determining whether any triable issues of fact exist, the evidence and all inferences which can be reasonably drawn from the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Strother v. Lexington County Rec. Comm'n, 332 S.C. 54, 61, 504 S.E.2d 117, 121 (1998) (citation omitted). "On appeal from an order granting summary judgment, the appellate court will review all ambiguities, conclusions, and inferences arising in and from the evidence in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. . . ." Osborne v. Adams, 346 S.C. 4, 7, 550 S.E.2d 319, 321 (2001).
Clinton argues the trial court erred in finding West American made a meaningful offer to Joy Clinton, because although she specifically rejected UIM coverage on the offer form, she filled in "25/50" on the blank line located on the UIM offer form and no premium amount was filled in by the agent or insurer. In light of Progressive Casualty Ins. Co., v. Leachman, Op. No. 25919 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed Jan. 10, 2005) (Shearouse Ad. Sh. 2 at 17, 23-24) (finding for purposes of a meaningful offer of UIM, S.C. Code Ann. ยง 38-77-350(A) does not require insurers to provide a blank line for insured to write in any amount of coverage up to the policy limit) and the reasoning set forth by the trial court, we conclude the trial court properly found a meaningful offer was made to Joy Clinton and the policy should not be reformed to include underinsured motorist coverage. The order granting summary judgment to West American is hereby affirmed and reprinted as part of the opinion of this court.
THE ORDER OF JUDGE JAMES JOHNSON, JR.
Before the Court are both the plaintiff's and the defendant's motions for summary judgment. These matters came before the Court for hearing on January 8, 2004. The plaintiff was represented by Mr. Randall Chambers of the Joel Bieber Firm of Greenville and the defendant was represented by Ms. Jennifer Eubanks of Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A. of Greenville. The parties both agreed that there were no genuine issues of fact before the Court. For the reasons set forth below, the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is denied and the defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted.
1. Procedural Background
On May 24, 1999, Debra Clinton ("Clinton") was a passenger in a 2000 Plymouth Neon LX, which was owned and operated by Joy Clinton, when that car was struck from the rear by a car operated by Courtney Young. Clinton filed suit against Courtney Young, alleging personal injury as a result of the collision in an action filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Greenwood County, C.A. No. 00-CP-24-982. Courtney Young's liability insurer, Farm Bureau, tendered its limits of $25,000 and Clinton tendered a claim for underinsured motorist ("UIM") coverage to Joy Clinton's insurer, West American. West American determined that Joy Clinton had declined UIM coverage after a valid and meaningful offer was made to her and declined to pay the claim.
Joy Clinton had only minimum limits coverage
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