Opinion ID: 547487
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Uninsured Motorists Insurance Limit equal to policy's Bodily Injury Liability Limit;

Text: 7 B. Uninsured Motorist Insurance Limits desired (other than A above) $______________ but not less than $60,000 for bodily injury liability; 8 C. Uninsured Motorists Insurance is not wanted and is hereby rejected. 9 Furman signed and returned the Virginia form but failed to check one of the three options. Aside from Furman's failure to select an option, the form was defective in two other respects. First, option C, a rejection of UM, was not legally available to Manville because Virginia law provided for a minimum level of coverage. See Va.Code Ann. Sec. 38.1-381(b) (1981). Second, the form incorrectly listed the minimum amount of UM as $60,000 in option B; the minimum amount of UM coverage required in 1984 was $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Id. 10 Virginia law, during policy year 1984, provided that the limits of a motor vehicle insurance policy's UM coverage shall not be less than the limits of that policy's liability coverage unless the insured rejects such additional uninsured motorist coverage by notifying the insurer as provided in Sec. 38.1-380.2(B)(3). Va.Code Ann. Sec. 38.1-381(b) (1981). Section 38.1-380.2(B)(3) required the insured to notify the insurer of the rejection within twenty days of the issuance or renewal of the policy. If an insured did reject the default coverage, the insured was still insured for the minimum amount required under Virginia law--$25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Va.Code Ann. Sec. 38.1-381(b). The provisions have since been recodified at Secs. 38.2-2206 and -2202 of the Virginia Code. 11 On July 27, 1989, the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia entered summary judgment in favor of White, holding that Manville's UM coverage was $2,000,000, the amount of liability coverage under the policy. 715 F.Supp. 1339. Because the court found that Manville had not rejected the default coverage, Virginia law required National Union to provide UM coverage equal to the liability coverage. 12 National Union has appealed. National Union contends that Manville did reject the default level of UM coverage. It also contends that the district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to issue a declaratory judgment. We address National Union's jurisdictional argument first.