Opinion ID: 2182969
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Allstate's Offset

Text: [¶ 10] Saucier's policy with Allstate provides that, with respect to payments pursuant to its uninsured motorist policy, [d]amages payable will be reduced by . . . all amounts paid by the owner or operator of the uninsured auto or anyone else responsible. Allstate argues that this language should be construed to mean reduced by the entire amount available to Saucier but paid out by the underinsured motorist (or the underinsured's insurance company) to all claimants, and not just by that paid to its insured, Saucier. [6] Allstate contends that the trial court erred in holding that, as a matter of law, it could only offset its coverage by the amount actually paid to Saucier by Pelletier's insurance carrier and not by amounts paid to other claimants. In making this argument, Allstate notes that the quoted provision does not specify who, or to how many claimants, the amount is paid to [ sic ]. [¶ 11] The meaning of the language used in an insurance contract is a question of law. See Jack v. Tracy, 1999 ME 13, ¶ 8, 722 A.2d 869, 871; Peerless Ins. Co. v. Wood, 685 A.2d 1173, 1174 (Me.1996). We construe insurance policies liberally in favor of the insured and any ambiguity in the contract is resolved against the insurer. See Peerless, 685 A.2d at 1174. We view the language from the perspective of an average person. See id. [¶ 12] Notwithstanding Allstate's observation that the policy provision regarding its offset does not specify to whom amounts paid refers, the language is not ambiguous. The court did not err when it determined that pursuant to Allstate's own policy provision, Saucier's coverage could only be offset by the amount that he was paid by Progressive, and therefore Allstate's maximum exposure was the difference between the $50,000 per person limit and the $10,594.65 Saucier received from Progressive. [¶ 13] In support of its construction, however, Allstate cites cases in which the negligent motorist's underinsured status was at issue. The two cases on which Allstate principally relies, Mullen v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 589 A.2d 1275 (Me.1991), and Day v. Allstate Ins. Co., 1998 ME 278, 721 A.2d 983, indicate that [t]o determine if a tortfeasor is underinsured, the court compares the relevant face amounts recited on the insurance policies without considering such factors as the amount of the insured's actual damages, the number of other claimants, or their recoveries. Day, 1998 ME 278 at ¶ 7, 721 A.2d at 985 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). [7] In other words, when determining the negligent motorist's coverage for purposes of determining his status as an uninsured motorist pursuant to 24-A M.R.S.A. § 2902(1), other claimants' actual recoveries, as well as that of the injured party, are disregarded. These cases, however, do not stand for the proposition that, when determining the coverage of the injured party pursuant to the contract provisions of that individual's uninsured motorist policy, the actual amount of money recovered from the uninsured individual is to be disregarded. [8] [¶ 14] Additionally, the construction given to the provision by Saucier and the Superior Court is consistent with observations made by this Court in other cases involving underinsurance coverage. In Tibbetts v. Maine Bonding and Cas. Co., 618 A.2d 731 (Me.1992), Maine Bonding argued that it was entitled to an offset pursuant to a clause in its policy similar to the one at issue in this case for sums paid to the insured by a motorist other than the uninsured motorist for injuries not attributable to the uninsured motorist. Id. at 733. We held that the insurer was not entitled to an offset for those sums, stating: the clause in Maine Bonding's policy effects a reduction only for amounts recovered from [the underinsured motorist] or her insurer. Accordingly, to the amount of its policy limits, Maine Bonding's contractual obligation to the Tibbettses is determined by the amount of the Tibbettses' damages that are attributable to [the underinsured motorist], reduced by any recovery received from [her] or her insurer. Id. at 734 (emphasis added). [¶ 15] In Cobb v. Allstate Ins. Co., 663 A.2d 38, 40 (Me.1995), we held that an offset for $25,000 paid to an insured by the tortfeasor applied entirely to the primary insurer whose liability limit was $40,000, and should not be prorated between the primary and secondary insurers. If a secondary insurer is not allowed to reduce its liability by amounts actually paid to the insured when those amounts have already been used as an offset by a primary insurer to reduce liability, it would be incongruous to allow an insurer to use amounts that were never paid to its insured as an offset to reduce its liability. [9] [¶ 16] The Superior Court did not err when it held as a matter of contract law that Allstate was required to pay $39,405.35 to Saucier. Cf. Buell v. American Universal Ins. Co., 224 Conn. 766, 621 A.2d 262, 265 (1993) (addressing similar language in a policy, court held that trial court improperly reduced amount payable to insured by full amount of underinsured's liability limit when a portion of it was paid to someone else).