Opinion ID: 76984
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: is caused by accident; and

Text: 26 b. arises out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of an uninsured motor vehicle ; and 27 c. that insured person suffers death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement; and 28 d. that insured person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle. 29 The Auto Club UM policy contains the following other insurance clause, limiting its liability where other insurance is involved: OTHER INSURANCE 30 If there is other Uninsured Motorists Coverage with us or any other insurer for a loss covered by this Part, we will only be liable to pay for the damages recoverable in the same proportion that the applicable limit of liability of this coverage bears to the sum of all the applicable limits of liability that cover the loss. However, we will not be liable under this coverage to pay more than our proportionate share, as determined in the manner provided for in the previous sentence, of an amount equal to the highest Limit of Liability that is applicable to the loss. 31 Thus, when other UM insurance covers part of the loss, the Auto Club primary policy provides that it will be liable on a pro-rata basis with other insurers. Auto Club has a pro-rata other-insurance clause. 32 However, the Auto Club policy also contains an important exclusion stating that its UM coverage will not apply at all to bodily injury sustained by an insured person (McGow) when that insured occupies a vehicle (the Expedition) that provides the same or similar coverage for the insured. Specifically, the Auto Club policy provides: 33 This coverage does not apply to bodily injury sustained by an insured person . . . while occupying a motor vehicle which provides the same or similar coverage for you or a resident relative. But this exclusion will not apply to the extent that the Limit of Liability of this coverage is greater in amount than the Limit of Liability of that same or similar coverage. 34 (Emphasis added.) Auto Club argues that this exclusion is an escape clause, that this escape clause applies because the St. Paul policy provides same or similar coverage for McGow, and thus that Auto Club bears no responsibility at all with regard to McGow's damages. 35 It is important to note that each of the policies involved in this case is a primary, as opposed to a true excess, policy. Generally, a true excess policy would provide no primary coverage and provide excess coverage only where a separate underlying policy provides primary coverage and the loss exceeds the limit of that primary coverage. In contrast, the St. Paul and Allstate policies are primary policies that contain excess other-insurance provisions, which make their primary insurance excess where other insurance is involved (i.e., a second layer of primary coverage to be reached only after the other primary insurance is exhausted). As discussed later in this opinion, these excess other-insurance clauses do not alter the primary nature of the St. Paul and Allstate policies; instead, these clauses may affect the priority of payment among primary policies.