Court Opinion

ID: 9698747
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:58:52.864322+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:01.398980
License: Public Domain

CAPPY, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the result reached by the majority but write separately because I believe the majority misconstrues this Court’s decision in Henrich v. Harleysville Ins. Co., 533 Pa. 181, 620 A.2d 1122 (1993), and in so doing obfuscates the only true distinction between that case and the instant case.
In both Henrich and the case sub judice an owner of a registered but uninsured vehicle was injured, allegedly as a result of another uninsured driver. In Henrich, the injured person was a passenger in another uninsured vehicle whereas here, the injured person was operating his own uninsured vehicle, but was allegedly injured when his vehicle was struck by an unidentified hit and run vehicle. In both cases, the injured uninsured person sought to recover uninsured motorist benefits pursuant to a resident relative’s policy of motor vehicle insurance. While the policy at issue in the case sub judice contains a specific exclusion precluding the recovery sought, the policy in Henrich contained no such exclusion.
The majority here concludes that because the case sub judice is factually distinguishable from Henrich, the Superior Court erred in relying on its decision therein. See, Henrich v. *138Harleysville Ins. Co., 403 Pa.Super. 98, 588 A.2d 50 (1991), aff'd, 533 Pa. 181, 620 A.2d 1122 (1993). The two distinguishing factors according to the majority are: (1) Windrim was operating his own uninsured vehicle at the time of the accident, and (2) the policy at issue here, unlike that in Henrich, contains a specific exclusion. Although I agree that the principles set forth in Henrich are not controlling here, I cannot subscribe to the majority’s reasoning in reaching that result. First, the majority relies upon a factor, the operation of the claimant’s own car, which is irrelevant to the issue presented here. Moreover, in an apparent attempt to fit its current decision into the framework of its prior decision in Henrich, the majority overlooks the fact that the precise issues presented in Henrich and the instant matter are completely distinct.
In Henrich we were asked to determine whether the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law1 and its underlying public policy would preclude Henrich from recovering benefits under the uninsured motorist provision of her father’s automobile insurance policy. In that case, Henrich was a “covered person” under the terms of the policy since she resided in her father’s household. The policy at issue in Henrich contained no express exclusion of the type contained in the policy at issue in the instant case. It was the contention of the defendant insurance company in Henrich that the statutory exclusion of first party benefits contained in § 17142 of the Act, relating to persons who own registered but uninsured vehicles, and the underlying purpose of the Act was indicative of the legislature’s intent to deny uninsured motorist benefits to persons such as Henrich who own registered but uninsured *139vehicles notwithstanding the fact that no such express preclusion was written into the uninsured and underinsured motorist provisions of the Act.
In analyzing the issue of whether Henrich should be precluded from recovering uninsured motorist benefits because she owned a registered but uninsured vehicle, the Superior Court first looked to the insurance policy itself, noting that Henrich was not contractually precluded from recovering uninsured motorist benefits. Utilizing principles of statutory construction, the Superior Court then applied the maxim “expressio unius est exclusio alterius ” (the mention of one thing in a statute implies the exclusion of others not expressed), concluding therefrom that because the legislature did not expressly include a preclusion similar to that of section 1714 in the uninsured motorist section of the Act, it must have implicitly intended not to preclude that same class of claimants from recovering uninsured motorist benefits. In other words, the Superior Court concluded that it was the legislature’s apparent intent to preclude owners of registered but uninsured vehicles from recovering first party benefits only.
In affirming the decision of the Superior Court, a majority of this Court3 first acquiesced in that court’s reasoning that, since Section 1714 of the MVFRL precludes an owner of a registered but uninsured vehicle from recovering first party benefits only, and since the legislature failed to include a similar preclusion for uninsured and underinsured benefits, our rules of statutory construction required a conclusion that the legislature implicitly intended not to preclude that same class of claimants from recovering uninsured or underinsured benefits. Specifically, the majority stated:
At 75 (Pa.C.S.) § 1702, the term “first party benefits” is defined as “medical benefits, income loss benefits, accidental death benefits and funeral benefits.” The MVFRL treats first party benefits separately from uninsured motorist benefits. First party benefits are addressed in Subchapter B of the statute, while uninsured motorist benefits are addressed *140in Subchapter C. Section 1714 is located in Subchapter B, and Subchapter C contains no similar exclusion. The Superior Court reasoned in the instant case that since 1714 specifically states that owners of uninsured but registered motor vehicles are precluded from recovering first party benefits, sound statutory construction, based on the principle expressio unius est exclusio alterius (the express mention of one meaning in a statute implies the exclusion of other meanings), requires the conclusion that the legislature implicitly intended not to preclude that same class of claimants from recovering uninsured motorist benefits. While we can find no fault in the Superior Court’s logic, we think that the instant case can be disposed of on both narrower and more fundamental grounds.
Henrich, 533 Pa. at 184-185, 620 A.2d at 1124. The majority then went on to conclude that there was nothing in the Act itself nor the public policy underlying the Act which precluded Henrich from recovering uninsured benefits.
Here, however, the issue is not whether the Act and its policy preclude recovery by Windrim, but rather whether the clear and unambiguous exclusion contained in his mother’s policy violates the Act or the public policy underlying same. The resolution of this issue does not depend on whether the claimant was driving or riding in his or her own registered but uninsured vehicle. The only pertinent inquiry is whether the contractual exclusion is void as against public policy. The focus of inquiry here is, thus, entirely distinct from that of Henrich and, for that reason alone, Henrich is inapplicable to the instant decision.4
*141Accordingly, we must look to the policy exclusion at issue here which, in pertinent part, provides:
This Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists insurance does not apply as follows ...
4. ... It does not apply to bodily injury suffered while occupying or from being hit by a vehicle owned by you or a relative living in your household, but not insured for Uninsured or Underinsured Motorists coverage under this policy-
As the majority here states, a plain and unambiguous provision in an insurance contract provision such as the one at issue here will be held invalid only where that provision is clearly violative of the public policy. See, Antanovich v. Allstate Ins. Co., 507 Pa. 68, 76, 488 A.2d 571 (1985). It is generally recognized that a primary consideration prompting the repeal of the No-fault Act and the passage of the MVFRL, which mandates insurance for all registered vehicles, was the escalating costs of motor vehicle insurance together with the increasingly high number of uninsured motorists using our highways. Thus, as this Court clearly acknowledged in Hen-rich, a primary policy underlying the enactment of the MVFRL was to deter owners of registered vehicles from failing to obtain insurance.
*142Viewing the exclusion at issue here, I am constrained to conclude that it is entirely consistent with the public policy underlying the enactment of the MVFRL and therefore, is valid and enforceable. There is no question that by being denied coverage, Windrim will be induced to purchase the mandated automobile insurance for his registered automobiles. In addition, it is axiomatic that the cost of insurance will be reduced as a result of providers not having to pay benefits to uninsured persons who have failed to comply with the law and thereby failed to contribute to the resources necessary for a comprehensive insurance program. Both the insurance company and the insured have recognized this public policy in negotiating the contractual exclusion. The fact that appellant bore no fault in this particular accident is irrelevant since the concept of fault was never contemplated in the bargained-for contract.
For the reasons set forth above, I concur in the result reached by the majority, but I am constrained to disassociate myself with the reasoning and rationale utilized in the majority opinion.

. Act of February 12, 1984, P.L. 26, No. 11 § 3 (codified at 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 1701-1799.7), repealing the Pennsylvania No-Fault Insurance Act, Act of July 19, 1994, P.L. 489, No. 176 § 101-701 (previously codified at 40 P.S. §§ 1009.101-1009.701).

. Section 1714 of the MVFRL provides:
An owner of a currently registered motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility or an operator or occupant of a recreational vehicle intended for highway use, motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized pedalcycle or like type vehicle required to be registered under this title cannot recover first party benefits. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1714.

. Justice Zappala and I concurred in the result only in Henrich.

. Although not pertinent to my position in the instant concurring opinion, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the operation of the claimant’s own uninsured vehicle, irrespective of fault, is a relevant factor.' Assuming that there was no contractual exclusion at issue here, the fact that Windrim was operating his own uninsured vehicle at the time of the accident, standing alone, would not preclude his recovery of uninsured motorist benefits. Under the MVFRL, uninsured motorist benefits are meant to provide protection for motorists who suffer injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as a result of the legal liability of an uninsured motorist. Specifically, Section 1731(b) of the MVFRL provides in pertinent part:
*141Uninsured Motorist Coverage—Uninsured motorist coverage shall provide protection for persons who suffer injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle and are legally entitled to recover damages therefor from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles.
75 Pa.C.S. § 1731(b). In other words, uninsured motorist benefits are available, not because the injured person is himself uninsured, but rather, because the injuries suffered by him were the legal result of another uninsured motorist. Furthermore, in pertinent part, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1702 defines "uninsured motor vehicles” as:
(3) an unidentified motor vehicle that causes an accident resulting in injury provided that the accident is reported to the police ... and the claimant notifies his insurer within 30 days ... that the claimant ... has a legal action arising out of the accident. (Emphasis added)
Accordingly, and but for the exclusion contained in the policy at issue, if it were ultimately determined that there was, indeed, a hit-and-run driver who caused the accident and Windrim’s resulting injuries, the fact that Windrim was driving his own uninsured vehicle does not, standing alone, bear on the issue of whether he was entitled to uninsured motorist coverage.