Opinion ID: 1135809
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether an insured may aggregate umbi coverage under a policy insuring multiple vehicles but for which the insured paid only one premium for umbi coverage?

Text: ¶ 7. This Court has endorsed stacking or aggregating uninsured motorist coverage of multiple policies since our decision in Harthcock v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 248 So.2d 456 (Miss. 1971). In fact, stacking is so firmly imbedded in Mississippi uninsured motorist law that it has become a positive gloss upon the Uninsured Motorist Act. Wickline v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 530 So.2d 708, 714 (Miss. 1988). However, up until now we have also consistently maintained that insurance companies and their insured are free to contractually limit stacking of uninsured motorist coverage, so long as the policy language is clear and unambiguous and the statutory minimum is upheld. Koestler, 608 So.2d at 1261, partially overruled by Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Garriga, 636 So.2d 658 (Miss. 1994); State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Kuehling, 475 So.2d 1159, 1162 (Miss. 1985); State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Talley, 329 So.2d 52, 54 (Miss. 1976); Talbot v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 291 So.2d 699, 701 (Miss. 1974). Over and above legally mandated minimums, the parties have always remained free to agree as they wish. The Act but reinforces the point when it empowers the parties to contract for coverage `over the minimum requirement.' Koestler, 608 So.2d at 1263. We still will not interfere with the right of the insurer and insured to contract for the amount of uninsured motorist (UM) coverage that the insured wants to purchase or the amount or number of premiums that the insurer charges for that coverage, so long as the policy meets the minimum statutory requirements. ¶ 8. In previous cases before this Court, we have allowed aggregation of UM coverage despite anti-stacking clauses based upon ambiguity in the language of the policy or the fact that separate premiums were charged for each car. Insurance companies have responded by rewriting their policy language and altering their premium scheme in order to circumvent our decisions. We now affirmatively declare that the public policy of this State mandates stacking of UM coverage for every vehicle covered under a policy, regardless of the number or amount of the premium(s) paid for UM coverage. We hereby hold that anti-stacking clauses as applied to UM coverage are against public policy, and contracts contrary to public policy are unenforceable. See Hertz Commercial Leasing Division v. Morrison, 567 So.2d 832, 834-35 (Miss. 1990). ¶ 9. We point to the language of our earliest stacking case to show that the intent of our uninsured motorist law is to provide the insured with adequate protection against injury caused by an uninsured motorist: After a careful consideration of the authorities from other jurisdictions and the requirements of our statute, we hold that the uninsured motorists coverage of each policy of liability insurance is available to the injured insured until all sums which he shall be entitled to recover from the uninsured motorist have been recovered. The coverage is mandatory on the insurer and this undertaking cannot be diminished by a provision in the policy. We find no words in the statute indicating that one policy providing minimum coverage is all the statute requires. The statute requiring the coverage does not say how much uninsured motorists coverage shall be provided for each accident or each vehicle or each uninsured motorist. It requires each policy to provide the minimum coverage... . Harthcock, 248 So.2d at 461-62. More recently, this Court reiterated its positive stand in favor of stacking: Stacking is firmly imbedded in our uninsured motorist law. The sort of stacking sought here, i.e., stacking multiple coverages within a single policy, has been mandated. As with other types of stacking, the rationale offered is that multiple premiums are paid and multiple (stacked) coverages should be available. However, what is important is the fact that stacking has become a positive gloss upon our Uninsured Motorist Act. ... . Uninsured motorist coverage is designed to provide innocent injured motorists a means to recover all sums to which they are entitled from an uninsured motorist. The statute is to be liberally construed so as to achieve compensation. ... . Unlike other jurisdictions, such as Alabama, Minnesota and Montana, which have legislatively mandated that stacking is contrary to public policy, stacking is retained in Mississippi as a positive gloss of our UM statute. Harris v. Magee, 573 So.2d at 653-55 (Miss. 1990) (citations omitted). ¶ 10. To say that an insured may contract with his insurance company to limit stacking is disingenuous. Insurance contracts essentially are contracts of adhesion. The insured has only two choices in negotiating the terms of his policy  he may accept the terms offered by his insurance company, or he may reject them and go to a different insurance company. When the entire insurance industry writes its policies to preclude stacking of UM coverage, attempting to circumvent case law and defeat public policy, the insured is denied any choice whatsoever. This Court has previously recognized the need to protect insureds because of their uneven bargaining power in dealing with insurance companies: It is a matter almost of common knowledge that a very small percentage of policy holders are actually cognizant of the provisions of their policies and many of them are ignorant of the names of the companies issuing the said policies. The policies are prepared by the experts of the companies, they are highly technical in their phraseology, they are complicated and voluminous and in their numerous conditions and stipulations furnishing what may be veritable traps for the unwary. Courts, while zealous to uphold legal contracts, should not sacrifice the spirit to the letter nor should they be slow to aid the confiding and innocent. Andrew Jackson Life Insurance Co. v. Williams, 566 So.2d 1172, 1188-89 (Miss. 1990) (citations omitted). ¶ 11. Mrs. Ferguson paid a premium to cover three cars with UMBI coverage. That she paid only one premium, the same premium charged regardless of the number of cars covered, does not diminish the effect of a premium being paid for UMBI coverage. Any language attempting to limit an insurer's liability must fail when it deprives the insured of benefits for which a premium was paid... . [R]ecovery cannot be limited by an insurer for benefits for which a premium is paid by an insured, notwithstanding clear and unambiguous language of attempted limitation by the insurer. Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Brown, 446 So.2d 1002, 1006 (Miss. 1984). USF & G cannot deprive Mrs. Ferguson of the benefits under her policy for which a premium was paid, even though a separate premium was not paid for each car covered. The circuit court was correct in finding that Mrs. Ferguson was entitled to recover the full aggregate amount of UMBI coverage under her policy, totaling $75,000, with credit for the $5,000 previously paid.