Court Opinion

ID: 9718233
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:19:19.861734+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:58.071219
License: Public Domain

POPOVICH, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Today, the majority determines that Pennsylvania drivers need insure only one of several of their motor vehicles in order to receive uninsured motorist benefits. However, because I find the Household Exclusion Clause contained in the policy of insurance issued by appellant to be enforceable, I cannot join the majority’s holding and condone this result.
It is well settled that a clear, unambiguous provision in a contract of insurance is to be given effect, unless to do so would violate public policy. Standard Venetian Blind Co. v. American Empire Ins. Co., 503 Pa. 300, 469 A.2d 563 (1983). My review of the MVFRL discloses that it is silent on the issue of whether the operator of an uninsured vehicle may recover uninsured motorist benefits under a policy applicable to another vehicle owned by the driver or a relative residing with the driver. Further, in this case, I believe that the MVFRL “contains no indication of policy clear enough to void a plain, unambiguous provision in an insurance contract____” Wolgemuth v. Harleysville Mut. Ins. Co., 370 Pa.Super. 51, 61, 535 A.2d 1145, 1150 (1988).
*161Indeed, if any policy considerations regarding the recovery of uninsured motorist benefits under the circumstances sub judice may be gleaned from the statute, they would arguably support denial of such recovery. Although not binding upon this court, I find the reasoning of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the recent case of Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hampton, 935 F.2d 578 (1991), to be most persuasive on this point. In Hampton, appellee sustained injuries when he collided with a van while operating his uninsured motorcycle. After exhausting the coverage applicable to the van, appellee sought underinsured motorist coverage from his father’s insurer.
Reversing the order of the district court allowing appellee to recover under his father’s policy, the Hampton court stated: “the MVFRL embodies a new policy, expressed in § 1714, of deterring motorists from failing to insure their vehicles by barring recovery of private insurance benefits.” Id. at 587. As the Hampton court further noted, no such statutory exclusion existed prior to the adoption of the MVFRL. Id. at 581.1
The majority relies, however, upon the decision of another panel of this court in Henrich v. Harleysville Ins. Co., 403 Pa.Super. 98, 588 A.2d 50 (1991), to find the Household Exclusion Clause in the policy written by appellant to be void. I believe that their reliance upon Henrich is misplaced. In Henrich, our inquiry was limited to whether appellant was statutorily precluded, under § 1714 of the MVFRL, from recovering uninsured motorist benefits. We held that appellant was not. We noted, however, after examining the insurance policy issued by appellee, “[w]e find that [appellant] is not contractually precluded from recovering uninsured motorist benefits.” Id. at 103, 588 *162A.2d at 52 (emphasis added). Henrich is, therefore, factually distinguishable from the case at bar.
As we stated in Allen v. Erie Ins. Co., 369 Pa.Super. 6, 534 A.2d 839 (1987):
In passing the Act [ (the MVFRL) ], the Legislature was primarily concerned with the rising consumer cost of automobile insurance, created in part by the substantial number of uninsured motorists who contributed nothing to the pool of insurance funds from which claims were paid. The Act has the effect of requiring all owners of registered vehicles to share in the burden of insurance before they can obtain the benefits. By denying benefits to a certain class of people — those not insuring their registered vehicles — the Act encourages the purchase of insurance by all owners who register vehicles which can be legally operated on the highways.
Id., 369 Pa.Superior Ct. at 10, 534 A.2d at 840-41 (citations omitted).
A possible result of the majority’s holding is that many individuals owning several vehicles will purchase coverage for only one of them. Likewise, relatives living with an insured will be less inclined to purchase insurance for their vehicles, instead seeking uninsured motorist coverage under their relative’s insurance policy. I fail to see how these results further the legislative purpose, embodied in the MVFRL, of encouraging the purchase of insurance and contribution to the pool of insurance funds out of which claims are paid. I would, therefore, reverse the order of the lower court.

. Section 1714 of the MVFRL states:
An owner of a currently registered motor vehicle who does not have financial responsibility or an operator or occupant of a recreational vehicle not 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.Cons.Stat.Ann. § 1714 (Purdon Supp.1991).