Opinion ID: 1232510
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: applicable policy provisions

Text: ¶ 8. The Langridge policy contains the following relevant provisions, some of which are defined terms that are used throughout the policy and which appear in bold face italics: Bodily Injury means bodily injury to a person and sickness, disease or death which results from it. Insured means the person, persons or organization defined as insureds in the specific coverage. Person means a human being. .... UNDERINSURED MOTOR VEHICLECOVERAGE W You have this coverage if W appears in the Coverages space on the declarations page. We will pay damages for bodily injury an insured is legally entitled to collect from the owner or driver of an underinsured motor vehicle. The bodily injury must be caused by accident arising out of the operation, maintenance or use of an underinsured motor vehicle. .... Underinsured Motor Vehicle means a land motor vehicle. 1. the ownership, maintenance or use of which is insured or bonded for bodily injury liability at the time of the accident; and 2. whose limits of liability for bodily injury liability: a. are less than the limits of liability of this coverage; or b. have been reduced by payments to persons other than the insured to less than the limits of liability of this coverage. .... Limits of Liability Coverage W 1. The amount of coverage is shown on the declarations page under Limits of Liability-W-Each Person, Each Accident. Under Each Person is the amount of coverage for all damages due to bodily injury to one person.  Bodily injury to one person  includes all injury and damages to others resulting from this bodily injury. Under Each Accident is the total amount of coverage, subject to the amount shown under Each Person, for all damages due to bodily injury to two or more persons in the same accident. ¶ 9. As noted above, the UIM limit in the Langridge policy for Each Person was $100,000. The UIM limit for Each Accident was $300,000. With these provisions at hand, we summarize each party's interpretation of the provisions as they apply to the facts underlying the claim. ¶ 10. Nancy Langridge asserts that her policy defines an underinsured motor vehicle to include a vehicle owned by an insured driver whose limits of liability for bodily injury [$150,000] b. have been reduced by payments to persons [William Langridge] other than the insured [Nancy Langridge] to less than the limits of the coverage. She argues that because she is a named insured under the policy, and the drunk driver's liability limits were paid to persons other than her, the insured drunk driver was underinsured as to her. Therefore, she asserts, she should be able to claim coverage under her policy for her wrongful death claim. ¶ 11. State Farm counters that Mrs. Langridge is attempting to split the claim for her husband's bodily injury into two claims to gain access to coverage to which she is not entitled. It asserts that since the drunk driver was not underinsured as to William Langridge and since Mrs. Langridge's claim under the policy is derivative of her husband's claim, the drunk driver was not underinsured. State Farm's position is that, based upon the context of the whole policy, the only relevant question to ask is whether the drunk driver was underinsured as to William Langridge. In its view, the answer is no, and consequently there was no underinsured motor vehicle and no UIM coverage.