Title: Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co. v. Bridges

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

350 So. 2d 1379 (1977) HARTFORD ACCIDENT AND INDEMNITY COMPANY v. Leverne BRIDGES et al. No. 49663. Supreme Court of Mississippi. October 26, 1977. Daniel, Coker, Horton, Bell & Dukes, Curtis E. Coker, Joel W. Howell, III, Jackson, for appellant. Holmes & Dukes, James K. Dukes, Hattiesburg, for appellees. Before INZER, P.J., and ROBERTSON and BOWLING, JJ. *1380 INZER, Presiding Justice, for the Court: This appeal involves the question of whether the uninsured motorists coverage contained in one policy of insurance insuring three automobiles for which a separate premium was charged and paid on each automobile can be aggregated or stacked to cover the damage suffered by an insured. The case comes to this Court from the Circuit Court of Forrest County wherein it was held that the coverage could be aggregated or stacked. We affirm. The case was tried by the circuit judge on a stipulation of facts without the intervention of a jury. It was stipulated that the plaintiffs were the father, mother, and the three brothers of Timothy Wayne Bridges, who died of injuries received when he was negligently struck by a hit and run driver on March 31, 1974. On the date of the accident, the policy in question issued by Hartford Insurance Group was in full force and effect. It was stipulated that deceased was an insured under the terms of the policy and his death was proximately caused by the negligent acts of the hit and run driver. It was also stipulated that defendant insurance company denied that coverage under the uninsured motorists section of its policy was in the amount of $30,000, but admitted that coverage under the policy amounted to $10,000. The issue raised by the pleadings and stipulation was submitted to the trial judge who wrote an opinion which indicates that the judge gave considerable thought and study to the issue involved. His opinion merits being set out in full in this opinion, and it reads as follows: Pursuant to this opinion a judgment was entered in favor of the appellees for $20,000, Hartford having paid into the registry of the court $10,000 admittedly due appellees. Hence, this appeal. Appellant in its brief states that "the question on this appeal, and the only real question, is whether the appellees, under the uninsured motorists coverage of a single automobile policy are entitled to aggregate the amount of coverage provided for each person on each of the three insured automobiles." It is earnestly contended that our decision in Talbot is controlling and the trial court was in error in failing to follow it. In view of our later decisions, there is some doubt that Talbot was correctly decided, but in any event, it may be distinguished from the present case and is not controlling. When we analyze Talbot, we find that it stands for the proposition that an insurance company can legally insure more than one automobile in the same policy and limit its uninsured motorists coverage to the minimum amount specified by the financial responsibility law. However, as indicated in Talbot, this must be done by clear and unambiguous language. Especially is this true, where as here, the insurance company charges a separate premium for the uninsured motorists coverage on each automobile, not a lump sum premium as in Talbot. While the charging of a separate premium is not necessarily controlling in determining whether the insured has aggregate coverage under the uninsured motorists provision of the policy, when a separate premium is charged for uninsured motorists coverage it raises a presumption or inference that the coverage in the one policy is the same as would be furnished if such coverage was provided for in separate policies covering the same vehicles. Consequently, in order to limit this coverage it must be done in such clear and unambiguous language that it may be readily seen and understood by the insured that the coverage is limited. After carefully examining the policy in question as a whole and especially the limits of liability provision of the contract, we find ourselves in agreement with the trial judge and the holding of the Alabama court in Jackson that the limits of liability clause in this policy is *1382 ambiguous and must be construed most strongly against its creator. This being true, the trial court was correct in holding that the uninsured motorists coverage provided for in this policy could be aggregated and stacked to the extent of the damage suffered by the insured. For the reasons stated, this case must be and is affirmed. AFFIRMED. PATTERSON, C.J., SMITH, P.J., and ROBERTSON, SUGG, WALKER, BROOM, LEE and BOWLING, JJ., concur.