Case Title: Concord General Mutual Insurance Co. v. Estate of Lawton

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 2003-01-31T00:00:00Z

Document:
Concord General Mutual Insurance Co. v. Estate of Lawton  Concord General Mutual Insurance Co. v. Estate of Lawton (2001-239); 175 Vt. 475; 820 A.2d 1962003 VT 7[Filed 31-Jan-2003] ENTRY ORDER 2003 VT 7 SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2001-239 JANUARY TERM, 2002 Concord General Mutual Insurance}APPEALED FROM: Company } } v. }Franklin Superior Court } Estate of Michael S. Lawton } }DOCKET NO. S 140-00 Fc Trial Judge: Ben W. Joseph In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter: ¶ 1. In light of this Court's recent decision in Colwell v. Allstate Insurance Co., Nos. 2000-053 & 2000-410 (Vt. Jan. 31, 2003), which controls the outcome of this dispute, we reverse the superior court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant, Michael Lawton, and order that summary judgment be entered for plaintiff, Concord General Mutual Insurance Company. In Colwell, this Court determined that 23 V.S.A. § 941(f) entitles an injured insured to underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) only when the total limits of liability laid out in the tortfeasor's policy are less than the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage stated in the insured's policy, not when the injured insured's awarded share is less than his UIM coverage. Id. Here, the tortfeasor's liability coverage exceeded the UIM coverage provided to the injured insured by plaintiff. As such, he did not fall into the statutory definition of underinsured. Despite the fact that defendant actually recovered less than the limit of UIM coverage provided by plaintiff, he is not entitled to UIM benefits. Reversed. BY THE COURT: _______________________________________ Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Chief Justice _______________________________________ John A. Dooley, Associate Justice _______________________________________ James L. Morse, Associate Justice _______________________________________ Denise R. Johnson, Associate Justice _______________________________________ Marilyn S. Skoglund, Associate Justice