Opinion ID: 1293833
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mutual Exclusivity of Underinsured and Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Text: Neither the Majority Opinion nor the Appellant cites any contractual or statutory provision which specifically provides that underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage are mutually exclusive. On the contrary, this conclusion is reached by the Majority by interpreting the definition of underinsured motorist coverage as found in the statute on the date of this incident. [1] The Majority reasons that in the majority of cases, an at fault driver will not satisfy both the uninsured and underinsured definitions. Normally, he will have no insurance and therefore be uninsured, or he will have insufficient liability insurance and will therefore be underinsured. Accepting this premise as sound for the sake of argument, the Majority Opinion fails to focus on the peculiar facts of this case. There is no disagreement that the at fault driver in this case meets the statutory definition of an uninsured motorist, not because he had no insurance, but because his liability insurance was less than that required by § 56-9-820, South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976. [2] Our Legislature has defined an uninsured motorist vehicle as any vehicle which is not insured in at least the minimum liability limits. § 56-9-20(16), South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976. The Majority defines an underinsured motorist endorsement as coverage in the event that damages are sustained in excess of the liability limits carried by an at fault insured or underinsured motorist. § 56-9-831, South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976 as amended. (Emphasis added.) The distinguishing fact overlooked and avoided by the Majority is that the at fault driver in this case had liability coverage and also meets the legislative definition of an underinsured motorist. The statute does not require a specific amount of liability coverage to trigger the underinsured motorist endorsement. The statute does not provide that under every conceivable fact situation, an at fault motorist must be either an uninsured or an underinsured motorist. The Appellant's policy contains no definition of an underinsured motorist and likewise no clause defining the two are mutually exclusive. In fact, as the Majority correctly noted, the declaration page of the Appellant's policy classifies the coverage as uninsured ( and underinsured) coverage; not uninsured ( or underinsured) coverage. (Emphasis added.) It is not the function of this Court to legislate or rewrite contractual agreements. The Majority may be right in concluding that in most cases an at fault driver cannot simultaneously meet the legislative definitions of both an uninsured and underinsured motorist. Albeit unusual, under the peculiar facts of this case, the at fault driver does clearly meet both definitions. The fact that this is unusual and may never happen again, does not give this Court the prerogative to rewrite the legislation. I agree with the general rule espoused by the Majority. I cannot agree that there can never be exceptions to the rule. The legislative definition of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage are almost always, ninety-nine.nine percent of the time, mutually exclusive. The peculiar facts of this case establishes that few rules of law are absolute. I would simply hold that under the facts of this case, applying the law applicable at the time of this occurrence, the at fault driver met the legislative definition of both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Finding no statutory or contractual language which would prohibit this atypical situation, I would agree with the trial judge that the Respondents are entitled to both coverages.