Court Opinion

ID: 9558629
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:14:06.10348+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:28.938763
License: Public Domain

*163CROCKETT, Justice,
(concurring).
I concur with the opinion of Justice Cal-lister based upon the conclusion that the plaintiff Florence Russell comes within the exclusion of insurance under the “excess clause” of her own policy with Factory; and that she does not come within the exclusion of the “excess clause” of her host-driver Gritton’s policy with United. But it seems to me that a bit of explanation of this conclusion is justified. This is particularly so because of the numerous cases and various holdings concerned with overlapping of insurance coverage, mostly in the extended coverage aspects of complex modern insurance policies.1
It is my opinion that if there is in fact multiple coverage, it would generally be fair and equitable to require the insurance companies to share the loss as provided in the pro rata clauses. If the so-called “excess clauses” apply identically to the claimant, they would in effect cancel each other. The .fundamental questions to be determined are whether the claimant is covered, and whether there is in fact multiple coverage. If there is, I would reject tortuous and specious rationalizations on the basis of priority in time, more specificness as to vehicle or individual, or as to primary tort-feasor, and make an equitable apportionment of the loss.
The first essential in such cases is to examine the policies with care and to give effect to their language and intent. The subject policies here have several things in common. They both provide coverage for an injury to “an insured” suffered by the act of an uninsured motorist. It is also true that either policy would cover the plaintiff if the other policy did not exist. Further, by the recitals in their substantially identical “excess clauses” they each attempt to exclude coverage if there is any other insurance covering the loss. But the point of divergence is that if the wording of these “excess clauses” is examined carefully it will be seen that under the fact situation here presented they do not apply in identically the same way to the plaintiff, Mrs. Russell.
It is important to note that as the terms “an insured” and a “named insured” are separately used in the policies, there is a distinction between them. The “named insured” is the person to whom the policy runs and provides direct coverage, whereas “an insured” is anyone who might inciden*164tally be entitled to insurance coverage under any provision of the policy, including the extended coverage provisions.
With the foregoing in mind it is appropriate to focus attention on each of these “excess clauses” to determine how they affect Mrs. Russell. Her policy with Factory, in which she is a “named insured,” says to her: We provide coverage for an injury by an uninsured motorist. But the exclusion of the “excess clause” says, If you are injured, “while occupying an automobile not owned by the named insured (this is herself), then the only coverage shall be in excess of any other insurance available to you.” Plaintiff fits into this condition. She was in an automobile not owned by the named insured (herself). She was in the car of Mrs. Gritton. Therefore, the provision in her policy that under those circumstances it would be liable only for the “excess over other available insurance” is clearly applicable. Since the policies were both for $5,000, there was no “excess.”
On the other hand, the Gritton policy with United in which the plaintiff Mrs. Russell is not a “named insured” says to her: We provide coverage for injury by an uninsured motorist to “an insured” (again anyone who might be entitled to coverage under the policy, which would include Mrs. Russell). But if the injury is suffered, “while the insured is occupying an automobile not owned by the named insured (Mrs. Gritton), then the only coverage shall be in excess of any other similar insurance available.” Plaintiff does not fit into this condition. That is, she was not “occupying an automobile not owned by the named insured” (Mrs. Gritton). But on the contrary, she was occupying an automobile which was owned by the named insured (Mrs. Gritton). Thus, she does not meet the requirement for the exclusion provided for by the “excess clause” in the Gritton policy with United. United therefore properly acknowledged liability and settled its $5,000 limit obligation for $4,500. In view of the fact that this insurance was “other insurance available” to plaintiff, she is excluded from coverage by the exclusion in the “excess clause” in her own policy with Factory.

. In addition to the cases and authorities cited in the main opinion see: 6S W.Va. L.Rev. 48 (1960-61); 38 Minn.L.Rev. 838, 847 (1954); Vance Trucking Co. v. Canal Ins. Co., 251 F.Supp. 93, 96 (D.C.1966) and cases therein cited; Insurance Co. of Texas v. Employers Liability Assur. Corp., 163 F.Supp. 143 (S.D.Calif.1958); Arditi v. Mass. Bonding & Ins. Co., 315 S.W.2d 736 (Mo.1958); Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Fidelity and Cas. Co. of N. Y., 374 P.2d 754 (Wyo.1962); Oregon Auto Ins. Co. v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 195 F.2d 958 (9th Cir.1952).