Title: Leritz v. Farmers Insurance Company, Inc.
Citation: 2016 OK 79
Docket Number: 
State: Oklahoma
Issuer: Oklahoma Supreme Court
Date: June 28, 2016

Leritz v. Farmers Insurance Company, Inc. Annotate this Case Justia Opinion Summary Appellant-plaintiff Robert Leritz was a Kansas resident whose motorcycle and two other vehicles were garaged in Kansas under an insurance policy issued by Appellee, Farmers Insurance Company (Farmers) in Kansas. Plaintiff was injured in a motorcycle accident in Oklahoma when Defendant Larry Yates made a left hand turn and collided with Plaintiff causing serious bodily injuries. Plaintiff brought this action alleging that he had incurred medical expenses and suffered damages exceeding Yates's liability coverage. There was a question as to whether he could stack his uninsured motorist (UM) coverage based on his ownership of policies on each of his three vehicles. Oklahoma allowed the practice, until the Oklahoma Legislature amended the UM provision in 2014. Kansas did not allow stacking. The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer and the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed, applying the insurer's proposed solution to a perceived conflict of laws issue. The Oklahoma Supreme Court found no conflict of laws issue on these facts because the policy specified which law would apply to an issue of stacking of policies. Giving the policy provisions effect made a choice of law analysis unnecessary; the Court vacated the Court of Civil Appeals, reversed the district court and remanded for further proceedings. Read more Want to stay in the know about new opinions from the Oklahoma Supreme Court? Sign up for free summaries delivered directly to your inbox. Learn More › You already receive new opinion summaries from Oklahoma Supreme Court. Did you know we offer summary newsletters for even more practice areas and jurisdictions? Explore them here . LERITZ v. FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY, INC. 2016 OK 79 Case Number: 110013 Decided: 06/28/2016 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA NOTICE: THIS OPINION HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION. UNTIL RELEASED, IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION OR WITHDRAWAL. Wayne Robert Leritz, Appellant, v. Farmers Insurance Company, Inc., Appellee, and Larry Allen Yates, Defendant. CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS Division III ¶0 A Kansas resident was injured when his motorcycle collided with a car in Oklahoma. He sought to stack uninsured motorist coverage based on his three Kansas policies. The trial court, Honorable Robert C. Haney, District Court, Delaware County, granted the insurer's motion for summary judgment applying Kansas law, which prohibits stacking, to resolve a perceived conflict of laws. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. CERTIORARI PREVIOUSLY GRANTED; OPINION OF COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS VACATED; JUDGMENT OF DISTRICT COURT REVERSED; CAUSE REMANDED. Rex Travis, Paul D. Kouri, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Appellant. J. Anthony Miller, Tulsa, Oklahoma; A. Mark Smiling, Shena E. Burgess, SMILING LAW FIRM, Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Appellee. COLBERT, J. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¶1 Appellant, Robert Wayne Leritz (Plaintiff) is a Kansas resident whose motorcycle and two other vehicles were garaged in Kansas under an insurance policy issued by Appellee, Farmers Insurance Company (Farmers) in Kansas. Plaintiff was injured in a motorcycle accident in Oklahoma on July 7, 2008, when Defendant, Larry Allen Yates, made a left hand turn and collided with Plaintiff causing serious bodily injuries. Plaintiff brought this action alleging that he had incurred medical expenses and suffered damages exceeding Yates's liability coverage. There was a question as to whether he could stack his uninsured motorist (UM) coverage based on his ownership of policies on each of his three vehicles. Oklahoma allowed the practice,1 until the Oklahoma Legislature amended the UM provision, section 3636 of title 36, in 2014 to provide: "Policies issued, renewed or reinstated after November 1, 2014, shall not be subject to stacking or aggregation of limits unless expressly provided for by an insurance carrier." 2014 Okla Sess. Laws ch. 307. Kansas does not allow stacking. The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer and the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed, applying the insurer's proposed solution to a perceived conflict of laws issue. However, there is no conflict of laws issue on these facts because the policy specifies which law will apply to an issue of stacking of policies. Giving the policy provisions effect makes a choice of law analysis unnecessary.2 STANDARD OF REVIEW ¶2 An order that grants summary judgment, in whole or in part, disposes solely of law questions. Brown v. Nicholson, 1997 OK 32, ¶ 5 n.1, 935 P.2d 319 , 321 n.1. It is reviewable by a de novo standard. Kluver v. Weatherford Hosp. Auth., 1993 OK 85, ¶ 14, 859 P.2d 1081 , 1084. ANALYSIS ¶3 By its terms, the policy "applies only to accidents, occurrences, and losses during the policy period shown in the Declarations which occur within the United States, its territories or possessions, or Canada, or while the motorcycle is being shipped between their ports." The policy further contemplates out of state coverage by providing: An insured person may become subject to the financial responsibility law, compulsory insurance law or similar law of another state or in Canada. This can happen because of the ownership, maintenance or use of your insured motorcycle when you travel outside of your home state. We will interpret this policy to provide any broader coverage required by those laws, except to the extent that other liability insurance applies. No person may collect more than once for the same elements of loss. (Emphasis added). Most importantly, the policy addresses specifically the issue of stacking of UM coverage and links it to the state law of the state in which the accident occurred by providing: "Subject to the law of the state of occurrence, we will pay no more than these maximums regardless of the number of vehicles insured, insured persons, claims, claimants, policies, or vehicles involved in the occurrence." (Emphasis added). Thus, the policy limits stacking, but only if the law of the state of occurrence limits stacking.3 Oklahoma law did not limit stacking.4 Therefore, under the policy's choice to defer to the law of the state of occurrence regarding stacking, the policy holder was entitled to stack UM coverage. ¶4 The parties and the Court of Civil Appeals became distracted from the policy language by a dispute concerning whether a conflict of law determination should be made according to Oklahoma's conflict of law statute concerning contracts, this Court's case law, or the UM statute found at section 3636 of title 36. There actually is no dispute because the policy provides its own choice of law provision concerning the stacking of UM coverage. Unfortunately, the policy provisions have yet to be given effect by the lower courts. This matter is remanded to the trial court for application of the policy provisions. CERTIORARI PREVIOUSLY GRANTED; OPINION OF COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS VACATED; JUDGMENT OF DISTRICT COURT REVERSED; CAUSE REMANDED. CONCUR: Reif, C.J., Combs, V.C.J., Kauger, Watt, Edmondson, Colbert, J.J. DISSENT: Winchester, Taylor, Gurich (by separate writing) J.J. FOOT