Court Opinion

ID: 9958135
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-08 12:01:55.489327+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:57.605059
License: Public Domain

************************************************
   The “officially released” date that appears near the
beginning of an opinion is the date the opinion will be
published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it
is released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the
beginning of all time periods for the filing of postopin-
ion motions and petitions for certification is the “offi-
cially released” date appearing in the opinion.
   All opinions are subject to modification and technical
correction prior to official publication in the Connecti-
cut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut
Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event
of discrepancies between the advance release version of
an opinion and the version appearing in the Connecti-
cut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut
Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest
version is to be considered authoritative.
  The syllabus and procedural history accompanying
an opinion that appear in the Connecticut Law Jour-
nal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or
Connecticut Appellate Reports are copyrighted by the
Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may
not be reproduced or distributed without the express
written permission of the Commission on Official Legal
Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut.
************************************************
Page 0                         CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                     0, 0

         2                          ,0                            0 Conn. App. 1
                                     Bouchard v. Wheeler

             CAITLYN BOUCHARD ET AL. v. CHEYANNE E.
                        WHEELER ET AL.
                           (AC 45627)
                                  Elgo, Moll and Suarez, Js.

                                           Syllabus

         Pursuant to statute (§ 38a-336 (e)), an underinsured motor vehicle is a motor
            vehicle with respect to which the sum of the limits of liability under
            insurance policies applicable at the time of the accident is less than the
            applicable limits of liability under the uninsured motorist portion of the
            policy against which the claim is made.

         The plaintiffs, who sustained injuries in a motor vehicle accident, sought to
            recover underinsured motorist benefits under an automobile insurance
            policy issued to them by the defendant S Co. At the time of the accident,
            the plaintiffs’ policy and the insurance policy of the defendant tortfeasors
            each provided liability coverage of up to $100,000 per person and
            $300,000 per accident. The tortfeasors’ insurer thereafter made payments
            to the plaintiffs and to others injured in the accident that exhausted the
            $300,000 per accident limit of the tortfeasors’ policy. After the plaintiffs
            settled their claims with the tortfeasors and withdrew their action as
            against them, S Co. moved for summary judgment, claiming that the
            plaintiffs were not entitled to underinsured motorist benefits because,
            under our Supreme Court’s precedent, their underinsured motorist cov-
            erage did not exceed the liability limits of the tortfeasors’ policy. The
            plaintiffs contended that the tortfeasors’ vehicle was an underinsured
            motor vehicle and that they were entitled to underinsured motorist
            benefits because a legislative amendment (P.A. 14-20, § 1) to the underin-
            sured motorist statute (§ 38a-336) had overruled that precedent. The
            trial court denied S Co.’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that
            the plaintiffs were entitled to underinsured motorist benefits because
            the total recovery they obtained from the tortfeasors was less than the
            $300,000 per accident limit in the tortfeasors’ policy. The court reasoned
            that P.A. 14-20 required that the proper comparison of the applicable
            limits of the policies of the tortfeasor and the claimant must be between
            the amount of liability insurance actually available to a plaintiff under
            a tortfeasor’s policy, after other claimants under that policy are paid,
            with the amount of a plaintiff’s underinsured motorist coverage. The
            plaintiffs and S Co. then entered into a stipulation that reserved S Co.’s
            right to appeal the propriety of the court’s denial of its motion for
            summary judgment and in which they agreed, inter alia, that the plaintiffs’
            policy and the tortfeasors’ policy contained identical coverage limits
            and that the $300,000 per accident limit of liability coverage in the
0, 0                        CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                       Page 1

       0 Conn. App. 1                                 ,0                             3
                                  Bouchard v. Wheeler
          tortfeasors’ policy had been exhausted. The court then rendered judg-
          ment for the plaintiffs in accordance with the parties’ stipulation, from
          which S Co. appealed to this court. Held that the trial court improperly
          denied S Co.’s motion for summary judgment, as the tortfeasors’ vehicle
          plainly was not an underinsured motor vehicle within the meaning of
          that term in § 38a-336 (e) because their underinsured motorist coverage
          was not less than, but identical to, the plaintiffs’ liability coverage:
          although the language of § 38a-336, as amended by P.A. 14-20, was
          ambiguous as applied to the facts of this case, this court determined
          that the legislature, in P.A. 14-20, did not intend to alter the definition
          of an underinsured motor vehicle in § 38a-336 (e) or to overrule the
          precedent of our Supreme Court concerning that definition but, rather,
          intended to clarify that an insurer may offset from its insured’s underin-
          sured motorist coverage, pursuant to § 38a-336 and the applicable regula-
          tion (§ 38a-336-4), only that amount their insured actually received from
          the tortfeasor’s coverage for bodily injury; moreover, this court was
          hard-pressed to conclude that the legislature intended to amend the
          definition of an underinsured motor vehicle in § 38a-336 (e) and overrule
          sub silentio a substantial body of our Supreme Court’s precedent per-
          taining to that definition, as this court was required to presume that
          the legislature was aware that the court repeatedly has held that the
          application of § 38a-336 involves separate inquiries involving, first,
          whether the tortfeasor’s vehicle is underinsured pursuant to § 38a-336
          (e), which requires a comparison of the coverage limits contained in
          the respective insurance policies of the tortfeasor and the claimant, and,
          if so, the calculation of the amount, if any, to be paid to the claimant;
          furthermore, the legislative history of P.A. 14-20 indicated that it was
          enacted to preclude the practice condoned by this court in Allstate Ins.
          Co. v. Lenda (34 Conn. App. 444) that an insurance carrier could offset
          underinsured motorist benefits owed to its insured by all amounts paid
          by or on behalf of the tortfeasor to the insured and others for bodily injury
          and property damage; additionally, although the plaintiffs contended
          that § 38a-336 is a remedial statute that must be construed liberally to
          protect people injured by uninsured motorists, our Supreme Court has
          expressly declined to apply that maxim to decide whether a vehicle met
          the statutory definition of an underinsured motor vehicle.

               Argued October 3, 2023—officially released April 9, 2024

                                   Procedural History

         Action to recover damages for, inter alia, the named
       defendant’s alleged negligence, and for other relief,
       brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of
       New Britain, where Safeco Insurance Company was
Page 2                        CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                    0, 0

         4                         ,0                           0 Conn. App. 1
                                    Bouchard v. Wheeler

         cited in as a defendant; thereafter, the action was with-
         drawn as against the named defendant et al.; subse-
         quently, the court, Hon. Joseph M. Shortall, judge trial
         referee, denied the motion for summary judgment filed
         by the defendant Safeco Insurance Company; there-
         after, the court, Morgan, J., rendered judgment for the
         plaintiffs in accordance with the parties’ stipulation,
         from which the defendant Safeco Insurance Company
         appealed to this court. Reversed; judgment directed.
           Philip T. Newbury, Jr., for the appellant (defendant
         Safeco Insurance Company).
             James J. Walker, for the appellees (plaintiffs).
                                           Opinion

            ELGO, J. This case concerns the proper application
         of General Statutes § 38a-336, commonly known as the
         underinsured motorist statute. See Tannone v. Amica
         Mutual Ins. Co., 329 Conn. 665, 676, 189 A.3d 99 (2018).
         The defendant Safeco Insurance Company1 appeals
         from the judgment of the trial court rendered in accor-
         dance with the stipulation that it entered into with the
         plaintiffs Caitlyn Bouchard, Kayla Bouchard and Mada-
         lyn Bouchard.2 On appeal, the defendant claims that
         the court improperly concluded that the automobile in
         question constituted an underinsured motor vehicle, as
         that term is used in § 38a-336. We agree and, accord-
         ingly, reverse the judgment of the trial court.
            1
              Although Cheyanne E. Wheeler and Russell Wheeler also were named
         as defendants, the plaintiffs withdrew their complaint against them approxi-
         mately seven months after this action commenced. We therefore refer to
         Safeco Insurance Company as the defendant in this opinion.
            2
              Caitlyn Bouchard appeared before the court in both her individual capac-
         ity and as parent and next friend of Kayla Bouchard and Madalyn Bouchard.
         Although Caitlyn Bouchard also appeared on behalf of the plaintiff Tristan
         Bouchard, as parent and next friend, Tristan Bouchard was not a party to
         the stipulation and is not participating in this appeal.
            For clarity, we refer to Caitlyn Bouchard, Kayla Bouchard and Madalyn
         Bouchard individually by first name and collectively as the plaintiffs.
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                       Page 3

       0 Conn. App. 1                       ,0                   5
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

          The relevant facts are not in dispute. On February
       16, 2018, Caitlyn was operating a vehicle insured by the
       defendant on East Main Street in Thomaston. Among
       her passengers were her daughters, Kayla and Madalyn.
       At that time, Cheyanne E. Wheeler was operating a
       vehicle owned by Russell Wheeler (Wheeler vehicle). As
       she approached an intersection, Cheyanne E. Wheeler
       negligently turned the Wheeler vehicle into Caitlyn’s
       lane of traffic, causing a collision that injured the plain-
       tiffs and other individuals.
          The plaintiffs thereafter commenced the present
       action, alleging negligence and recklessness on the part
       of Cheyanne E. Wheeler, as well as family car doctrine
       liability; see Matthiessen v. Vanech, 266 Conn. 822, 836
       n.14, 836 A.2d 394 (2003); on the part of Russell Wheeler
       pursuant to General Statutes § 52-182. In addition, the
       plaintiffs alleged that, at all relevant times, the Wheeler
       vehicle was an underinsured motor vehicle and that
       they were entitled to underinsured motorist benefits
       from the defendant, their insurer. After the plaintiffs
       settled their claims with the tortfeasors’ insurer and
       withdrew their action against Cheyanne E. Wheeler and
       Russell Wheeler, the defendant moved for summary
       judgment on the ground that ‘‘the plaintiffs are not
       entitled to underinsured benefits [because their] under-
       insured coverage is equal to the tortfeasor’s liability
       coverage.’’
         In its January 5, 2021 memorandum of decision, the
       court, Hon. Joseph M. Shortall, judge trial referee,
       acknowledged the precedent of our Supreme Court
       holding that a motor vehicle is not underinsured where
       the liability limits in the tortfeasor’s policy are equal to
       or greater than the underinsured benefits in the claim-
       ant’s policy. See Doyle v. Metropolitan Property &
       Casualty Ins. Co., 252 Conn. 79, 87–91, 743 A.2d 156
       (1999); Florestal v. Government Employees Ins. Co.,
       236 Conn. 299, 301, 673 A.2d 474 (1996); American
Page 4                        CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                   0, 0

         6                         ,0                           0 Conn. App. 1
                                    Bouchard v. Wheeler

         Motorists Ins. Co. v. Gould, 213 Conn. 625, 632–33, 569
         A.2d 1105 (1990), overruled in part on other grounds
         by Covenant Ins. Co. v. Coon, 220 Conn. 30, 594 A.2d
         977 (1991). The court nevertheless concluded that a
         2014 amendment to § 38a-336 (b) legislatively overruled
         that Supreme Court precedent. Whereas the pertinent
         inquiry under that precedent entailed comparison of
         the applicable limits of the respective insurance policies
         of the tortfeasor and the claimant, the trial court held
         that, following passage of No. 14-20, § 1, of the 2014
         Public Acts (P.A. 14-20), ‘‘the comparison must be
         between the amount of liability insurance actually
         available to the plaintiff under the tortfeasor’s liability
         insurance policy, after other claimants under that policy
         are paid, with the amount of the plaintiff’s underinsured
         motorist coverage.’’ (Emphasis in original.) Because the
         total recovery obtained by the plaintiffs was less than
         the $300,000 per accident limit for coverage under the
         automobile policy issued by the defendant (Bouchard
         policy), the court concluded that they were entitled
         to additional underinsured motorist benefits. For that
         reason, the court denied the defendant’s motion for
         summary judgment.
            The parties thereafter entered into a stipulated judg-
         ment that reserved the defendant’s right to appeal the
         propriety of the court’s denial of its motion for summary
         judgment. That stipulation set forth the following addi-
         tional facts. At the time of the accident, the Wheeler
         vehicle was insured for automobile liability by State
         Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Wheeler
         policy). The Wheeler policy provided coverage of up
         to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. State
         Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company subse-
         quently made payments to the plaintiffs and other indi-
         viduals injured in the accident, thereby exhausting the
         $300,000 per accident limit of the Wheeler policy.3
           3
             The stipulated judgment indicates that State Farm Mutual Automobile
         Insurance Company paid ‘‘$80,500 to settle the claim by Caitlyn,’’ ‘‘$60,000
0, 0                         CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                     Page 5

       0 Conn. App. 1                                 ,0                            7
                                   Bouchard v. Wheeler

          At all relevant times, the plaintiffs were insured under
       the Bouchard policy. As the parties noted in their stipu-
       lation, ‘‘the uninsured and underinsured motorist limits
       of the [Bouchard] policy are $100,000 per person and
       $300,000 per accident without conversion coverage
       . . . .’’4 (Emphasis added.) It therefore is undisputed
       that the Wheeler policy and the Bouchard policy contain
       identical coverage limits.
          By order dated June 27, 2022, the court rendered
       judgment in accordance with the stipulation of the par-
       ties. The defendant then commenced this timely appeal.
          The issue presented in this appeal is whether the
       court correctly determined that the Wheeler vehicle
       constituted an underinsured motor vehicle, as that term
       is used in § 38a-336. The proper construction of § 38a-
       336 presents a question of law, over which our review is
       to settle the claim by Kayla,’’ ‘‘$50,000 to settle the claim by Madalyn,’’ and
       ‘‘$109,500 to settle claims by additional injured persons who are not parties
       to this agreement . . . .’’
          4
            In their operative complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that the Bouchard
       policy ‘‘provided underinsured motorist conversion coverage.’’ They never-
       theless agreed, in the stipulated judgment entered into with the defendant
       and approved by the court, that the Bouchard policy did not provide conver-
       sion coverage. The record before us contains a copy of the Bouchard policy,
       which was appended as an exhibit to the defendant’s memorandum of law
       in support of its motion for summary judgment. That exhibit confirms that
       the Bouchard policy did not provide underinsured motorist conversion cov-
       erage.
          ‘‘[C]onversion coverage is an option [that] is available for an additional
       premium to consumers who wish to purchase it in lieu of standard underin-
       sured motorist coverage under § 38a-336 [and] provides enhanced protection
       to victims of underinsured motorists . . . . In contrast to traditional under-
       insured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist conversion coverage is
       not reduced by the amount of any payment received by or on behalf of the
       tortfeasor or a third party. . . . As our Supreme Court succinctly explained,
       conversion coverage . . . means that any [uninsured] motorist benefits [a
       plaintiff] is entitled to from the defendant will not be reduced by the amount
       recovered from the legally responsible parties.’’ (Citations omitted; emphasis
       omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Russbach v. Yanez-Ventura,
       213 Conn. App. 77, 103–104, 277 A.3d 874, cert. denied, 345 Conn. 902, 282
       A.3d 465 (2022).
Page 6                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                         0, 0

         8                    ,0                     0 Conn. App. 1
                               Bouchard v. Wheeler

         plenary. See Doyle v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty
         Ins. Co., supra, 252 Conn. 84.
            ‘‘When construing a statute, [o]ur fundamental objec-
         tive is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent
         of the legislature. . . . In other words, we seek to
         determine, in a reasoned manner, the meaning of the
         statutory language as applied to the facts of [the] case,
         including the question of whether the language actually
         does apply.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Sera-
         monte Associates, LLC v. Hamden, 345 Conn. 76, 83,
         282 A.3d 1253 (2022). Pursuant to General Statutes § 1-
         2z, ‘‘[t]he meaning of a statute shall, in the first instance,
         be ascertained from the text of the statute itself and
         its relationship to other statutes. If, after examining
         such text and considering such relationship, the mean-
         ing of such text is plain and unambiguous and does
         not yield absurd or unworkable results, extratextual
         evidence of the meaning of the statute shall not be
         considered.’’
                                        I
            In ascertaining the proper meaning of § 38a-336, we
         do not write on a blank slate, but rather are guided by
         our Supreme Court’s prior decisions construing that
         statute. See Connecticut Ins. Guaranty Assn. v. Drown,
         314 Conn. 161, 173, 101 A.3d 200 (2014); New England
         Road, Inc. v. Planning & Zoning Commission, 308
         Conn. 180, 186, 61 A.3d 505 (2013). In American Motor-
         ists Ins. Co. v. Gould, supra, 213 Conn. 625, the Supreme
         Court addressed the question of whether a tortfeasor’s
         vehicle constituted an underinsured motor vehicle, as
         that term was used in General Statutes (Rev. to 1983)
         § 38-175c, the precursor to § 38a-336. The court first
         noted that the statute contained an explicit definition
         of the term ‘‘underinsured motor vehicle’’; id., 629; and
         explained that § 38-175c ‘‘requires that the insured’s
         uninsured motorist coverage limits be greater than
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                         Page 7

       0 Conn. App. 1                        ,0                    9
                             Bouchard v. Wheeler

       the total liability limits for a [tortfeasor’s] vehicle before
       it may be deemed underinsured.’’ (Emphasis in origi-
       nal.) Id., 631. The court then continued: ‘‘[T]he legisla-
       tive objective was simply to give an insured who is
       injured in an accident the same resource he would have
       had if the tortfeasor had carried liability insurance equal
       to the amount of the insured’s uninsured motorist cover-
       age. Where an underinsured motor vehicle is statutorily
       defined as an insured motor vehicle with applicable
       liability limits less in amount than the injured person’s
       uninsured motorist’s limits, it is clear that the underin-
       sured motorist coverage is not applicable if the insured
       person’s uninsured motorist limits are equal to, or less
       than, the tortfeasor’s liability limits.’’ (Internal quotation
       marks omitted.) Id., 632.
          Six years later, the Supreme Court was asked to over-
       rule its decision in Gould. In Florestal v. Government
       Employees Ins. Co., supra, 236 Conn. 301, the court
       declined to do so and expressly reaffirmed its holding
       in Gould. The plaintiffs in Florestal argued that ‘‘a strict
       construction of [the definition of ‘underinsured motor
       vehicle’ set forth in] § 38a-336 (e) is inconsistent with
       the legislative purpose underlying the enactment of our
       uninsured and underinsured motorist statutes, which,
       they assert, is to ensure ‘that automobile accident vic-
       tims receive fair, just and reasonable compensation for
       their injuries.’ ’’ Id., 305. The court acknowledged that
       ‘‘broadly stated . . . the purpose of underinsured
       motorist coverage is to protect the named insured and
       other additional insureds from suffering an inade-
       quately compensated injury caused by an accident with
       an inadequately insured automobile.’’ (Internal quota-
       tion marks omitted.) Id. The court continued: ‘‘It does
       not follow, however, that the legislature, in providing
       for underinsured motorist coverage, necessarily
       intended to guarantee that each and every accident
       victim would be fully, or even adequately, compensated
Page 8                   CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                       0, 0

         10                   ,0                    0 Conn. App. 1
                              Bouchard v. Wheeler

         for injuries caused by an underinsured motorist. . . .
         [T]he legislative objective [in enacting § 38a-336] was
         simply to give an insured who is injured in an acci-
         dent the same resource he would have had if the tortfea-
         sor had carried liability insurance equal to the amount
         of the insured’s uninsured motorist coverage.’’ (Emphasis
         in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 306.
         The Supreme Court also emphasized that ‘‘the purpose
         of underinsured motorist coverage is neither to guaran-
         tee full compensation for a claimant’s injuries nor to
         ensure that the claimant will be eligible to receive the
         maximum payment available under any applicable pol-
         icy. Indeed, underinsured motorist protection is not
         intended to provide a greater recovery than would have
         been available from the tortfeasor . . . .’’ (Internal quo-
         tation marks omitted.) Id., 310.
            Notably, the tortfeasor’s automobile liability policy in
         Florestal—like the Wheeler policy here—was exhausted
         by payment to multiple claimants. Id., 301. For purposes
         of determining whether the tortfeasor’s vehicle was an
         underinsured motor vehicle under § 38a-336, our
         Supreme Court held that this was a distinction without
         a difference, stating: ‘‘The fact that [the tortfeasor’s]
         liability coverage has . . . been exhausted because of
         multiple claims does not change the effect of the statute
         in activating uninsured motorist coverage only when the
         liability insurance of the tortfeasor is less in amount.’’
         (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 306.
            The court further recognized that, ‘‘several years after
         [its] decision in Gould, the legislature enacted the Auto-
         mobile Insurance Reform Act; Public Acts 1993, No. 93-
         297; which, among other things, requires any insurance
         company licensed to sell automobile liability insurance
         in this state to offer a type of underinsured motorist
         coverage known as underinsured motorist conversion
         coverage . . . . This option, which is available for an
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                     Page 9

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                 11
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       additional premium to consumers who wish to pur-
       chase it in lieu of standard underinsured motorist
       coverage under § 38a-336, provides enhanced protec-
       tion to victims of underinsured motorists because, in
       contrast to coverage under § 38a-336, it is activated
       when the sum of all payments received by or on behalf
       of the covered person from or on behalf of the tortfeasor
       are less than the fair, just and reasonable damages of
       the covered person. . . . By retaining the standard
       option under § 38a-336 and providing for another, differ-
       ent kind of underinsured motorist coverage . . . it is
       apparent that the legislature chose to address the cover-
       age issue raised in Gould not by overruling our holding
       therein but, rather, by mandating the availability of a
       more comprehensive, and more expensive, optional
       form of underinsured motorist coverage.’’ (Citations
       omitted; emphasis in original; footnotes omitted; inter-
       nal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 306–308.
          In Doyle v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Ins.
       Co., supra, 252 Conn. 84, the Supreme Court again
       adhered to its earlier precedent, and Florestal in partic-
       ular, stating that, ‘‘[i]n all of these cases, we reasoned
       that the determination of whether there was underin-
       sured motorist coverage available to the plaintiff was
       to be determined by comparing the amount of liability
       insurance potentially available to the plaintiff from the
       tortfeasor with the amount of underinsured motorist
       coverage potentially available to the plaintiff under his
       or her underinsured motorist policy. These potential
       availabilities were calculated, moreover, by comparing
       the respective stated policy limits—liability and under-
       insured motorist. That comparison is mandated by the
       specific language of § 38a-336 (e) . . . . Furthermore,
       this simple comparison—of potentially available liabil-
       ity insurance with potentially available underinsured
       motorist coverage—was to be done, we held, irrespec-
       tive of whether the liability coverage had been fully or
Page 10                         CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                       0, 0

          12                           ,0                           0 Conn. App. 1
                                       Bouchard v. Wheeler

          partially exhausted by other claimants . . . .’’ Id., 87–
          88.
             The court also reiterated the proper analytical frame-
          work that governs claims involving § 38a-336, stating:
          ‘‘Application of § 38a-336 involves two separate inquir-
          ies. First, it must be determined whether the tortfeasor’s
          vehicle is an ‘underinsured vehicle’ within the meaning
          of the statute. Second, after this determination is made
          and underinsured motorist coverage is found to be
          applicable, the finder of fact calculates the amount of
          the award to be paid the victim.’’ (Internal quotation
          marks omitted.) Id., 84. As an intermediate appellate
          tribunal, this court is bound by that precedent. See
          Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Ins. Co. v. Under-
          writers at Lloyd’s & Cos. Collective, 121 Conn. App.
          31, 48–49, 994 A.2d 262, cert. denied, 297 Conn. 918,
          996 A.2d 277 (2010).
                                       II
             With that context in mind, we turn to the statutory
          language at issue. Section 38a-336 requires automobile
          insurance policies in this state to include underinsured
          motorist coverage, which pertains to bodily injuries
          caused by owners and operators of underinsured motor
          vehicles. Importantly, the statute contains a detailed
          definition of that term. Section 38a-336 (e) provides:
          ‘‘For the purposes of this section, an ‘underinsured
          motor vehicle’ means a motor vehicle with respect to
          which the sum of the limits of liability under all bodily
          injury liability bonds and insurance policies applicable
          at the time of the accident is less than the applicable
          limits of liability under the uninsured motorist portion
          of the policy against which claim is made under subsec-
          tion (b) of this section.’’5
             5
               The Bouchard policy contains a definition of an ‘‘underinsured motor
          vehicle’’ that largely mirrors the statutory definition provided in § 38a-336
          (e), stating: ‘‘ ‘Underinsured motor vehicle’ means a land motor vehicle or
          trailer of any type for which the sum of the limits of liability under all bodily
          injury bonds or policies applicable at the time of the accident is less than
          the limit of liability for this coverage.’’
0, 0                         CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                      Page 11

       0 Conn. App. 1                                 ,0                           13
                                   Bouchard v. Wheeler

          On appeal, the defendant claims that the plain lan-
       guage of § 38a-336 (e) indicates that an automobile qual-
       ifies as an ‘‘underinsured motor vehicle’’ only if the
       claimant’s uninsured motorist coverage exceeds the lia-
       bility limits of the tortfeasor’s policy, as our Supreme
       Court repeatedly has held. See Doyle v. Metropolitan
       Property & Casualty Ins. Co., supra, 252 Conn. 87–88;
       Florestal v. Government Employees Ins. Co., supra, 236
       Conn. 301; American Motorists Ins. Co. v. Gould, supra,
       213 Conn. 632.
         The plaintiffs, by contrast, submit that the enactment
       of P.A. 14-20 served to amend not only § 38a-336 (b),
       but also altered the definition of ‘‘underinsured motor
       vehicle’’ contained in § 38a-336 (e). As amended by P.A.
       14-20, § 38a-336 (b)—which pertains to underinsured
       motorist coverage limits—provides in relevant part: ‘‘In
       no event shall there be any reduction of uninsured or
       underinsured motorist coverage limits or benefits pay-
       able . . . for amounts paid by or on behalf of any tort-
       feasor for bodily injury to anyone other than individuals
       insured under the policy against which the claim is
       made, or [for] amounts paid by or on behalf of any
       tortfeasor for property damage. . . .’’ In this regard, the
       plaintiffs emphasize that the definition of ‘‘underinsured
       motor vehicle’’ set forth in § 38a-336 (e) explicitly incor-
       porates § 38a-336 (b) by reference.6 They thus argue
       that, for purposes of the comparison mandated by § 38a-
       336 (e), the applicable limits of liability under an under-
       insured motorist policy that was in effect at the time
       of the accident ‘‘means the amount of liability coverage
       actually, not just potentially, available’’ to individuals
         6
           General Statutes § 38a-336 (e) provides: ‘‘For the purposes of this section,
       an ‘underinsured motor vehicle’ means a motor vehicle with respect to
       which the sum of the limits of liability under all bodily injury liability bonds
       and insurance policies applicable at the time of the accident is less than
       the applicable limits of liability under the uninsured motorist portion of the
       policy against which claim is made under subsection (b) of this section.’’
       (Emphasis added.)
Page 12                          CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                       0, 0

          14                           ,0                            0 Conn. App. 1
                                       Bouchard v. Wheeler

          insured under that policy pursuant to § 38a-336 (b).7
          (Emphasis in original.)
              Under our rules of statutory construction, ambiguity
          arises whenever statutory language is subject to more
          than one plausible interpretation. See, e.g., Redding v.
          Georgetown Land Development Co., LLC, 337 Conn.
          75, 84 n.9, 251 A.3d 980 (2020) (‘‘[o]ur case law is clear
          that ambiguity exists only if the statutory language at
          issue is susceptible to more than one plausible interpre-
          tation’’ (internal quotation marks omitted)); State v.
          Pond, 315 Conn. 451, 468, 108 A.3d 1083 (2015)
          (‘‘[b]ecause the statutory language is subject to multi-
          ple, plausible interpretations, and it does not expressly
          address or resolve the certified question, [the language]
          is facially ambiguous’’); Commissioner of Correction
          v. Freedom of Information Commission, 307 Conn. 53,
          68, 52 A.3d 636 (2012) (‘‘[b]ecause we believe that both
          of these interpretations are plausible, we conclude that
          the language [in question] is ambiguous’’). We conclude
          that the statutory language in question is subject to
          more than one plausible interpretation. For that reason,
          § 38a-336 is ambiguous as applied to the facts of this
          case.8 Accordingly, resort to extratextual materials is
             7
               That construction was adopted by the trial court in the present case. In
          its memorandum of decision, the court stated in relevant part: ‘‘[Section]
          38a-336 . . . defines an ‘underinsured motor vehicle’ as one with respect
          to which the limits of liability coverage ‘applicable at the time of the accident’
          is less than the applicable limits of the underinsured motorist coverage of
          the policy under which claim is made ‘under subsection (b) of this section.’
          Interpreting subsection (e) so that it is consistent with the statute as a
          whole, including the amended subsection (b), as the court must . . . the
          limits of liability coverage ‘applicable at the time of the accident’ must mean
          the amount of liability coverage actually not just potentially available to
          the plaintiff.’’ (Citation omitted; emphasis in original.)
             8
               Multiple judges of the Superior Court have determined that § 38a-336 is
          ambiguous in similar factual scenarios, necessitating consideration of the
          legislative history of P.A. 14-20. See, e.g., Rasimas v. Kemper Independence
          Ins. Co., Superior Court, judicial district of Stamford-Norwalk, Complex
          Litigation Docket, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S (December 16, 2021) (Ozalis,
          J.) (reviewing P.A. 14-20 and its legislative history to ascertain ‘‘what portion
          of the tortfeasor’s liability limits are ‘applicable’ to the plaintiff’s underin-
0, 0                          CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                        Page 13

       0 Conn. App. 1                                   ,0                            15
                                    Bouchard v. Wheeler

       warranted. See, e.g., State v. Fernando A., 294 Conn.
       1, 17, 981 A.2d 427 (2009).
                                              III
         The parties agree that, prior to the enactment of P.A.
       14-20, a motor vehicle was not deemed underinsured
       pursuant to the definition set forth in § 38a-336 (e)
       where the liability limits in the tortfeasor’s policy were
       equal to or greater than the underinsured benefits in
       the claimant’s policy. Their fundamental disagreement
       concerns whether the legislature, in enacting P.A. 14-
       20, intended to alter that definition of an ‘‘underinsured
       motor vehicle.’’
         The legislative history of P.A. 14-20 is illuminating in
       this regard. On March 4, 2014, the Connecticut Trial
       Lawyers Association (association) submitted a letter to
       the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee
       in support of what ultimately became P.A. 14-20. It
       stated in relevant part: ‘‘Following last year’s legislative
       session, a joint study group comprised of both members
       of the [association] and the Insurance Association of
       Connecticut . . . was formed under the auspices of
       the Connecticut Department of Insurance. Senate Bill
       number 280 is the product of that working committee.
       The legislation was drafted, and is agreed to by both
       the [association and the Insurance Association of Con-
       necticut] . . . . Under the current state of the law, an
       underinsured motorist carrier is entitled to reduce its
       sured motorist claim’’ and concluding that, ‘‘[i]t is clear . . . after examining
       the text of § 38a-336 (e), that the ‘applicable’ liability coverage in this context
       is the amount actually available and paid to the insured, after other claimants
       are paid’’); Ismail v. Sanchez, Superior Court, judicial district of New Britain,
       Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S (September 22, 2020) (Aurigemma, J.) (‘‘After
       reviewing . . . the legislative history of P.A. 14-20, the court agrees with the
       [defendant] that the public act did not change the definition of ‘underinsured
       motorist’ [set forth in § 38a-336 (e)] but, rather, intended to clarify the law
       concerning deduction to payments due to underinsured motorists. Since
       the plaintiff and the tortfeasor had identical insurance coverage, the plaintiff
       was not an underinsured motorist for purpose[s] of P.A. 14-20 . . . .’’).
Page 14                   CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                        0, 0

          16                   ,0                    0 Conn. App. 1
                               Bouchard v. Wheeler

          coverage for any payments made to the injured party
          pursuant to the liability policy issued to the [tortfeasor].
          The proposed bill does not seek to change this rule.
          However, the Connecticut Appellate Court interpreted
          this rule as allowing underinsured motorist carriers to
          also claim a reduction for payments made to individuals
          other than the claimant by the liability carrier for the
          [tortfeasor]. Allstate [Ins. Co. v. Lenda, 34 Conn. App.
          444, 642 A.2d 22, cert. denied, 231 Conn. 906, 648 A.2d
          149 (1994), and cert. denied, 231 Conn. 906, 648 A.2d
          149 (1994)]. A result of this ruling is that the claimant’s
          uninsured motorist coverage can be reduced by pay-
          ments they never received which were paid by the liabil-
          ity carrier for the [tortfeasor] to other individuals,
          totally unrelated to the claimant. . . . [This bill] seeks
          to correct this inequity by disallowing any reduction in
          underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage for amounts
          paid by or on behalf of any tortfeasor for bodily injury
          to anyone other than the individuals insured under the
          policy against which the claim is being made. [It] further
          prohibits any reductions for payments made by the
          tortfeasor on behalf of property damage.’’ (Emphasis
          added.) That letter was admitted into the record of the
          hearing of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee
          on March 4, 2014.

            On that date, the president of the association, Mike
          Walsh, testified before the Insurance and Real Estate
          Committee and reiterated that ‘‘the purpose of this . . .
          proposed legislation . . . is to essentially correct what
          we perceived to be an inequity . . . that was created by
          the Connecticut Appellate Court [in Lenda] that allowed
          [underinsured motorist] carriers to reduce their cover-
          age for payments made by the liability carrier.’’ Conn.
          Joint Standing Committee Hearings, Insurance and Real
          Estate, Pt. 2, 2014 Sess., p. 489. Walsh was the only
          person who testified before the committee on that bill,
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                      Page 15

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                  17
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       and the letter from the association was the only corre-
       spondence entered into the record. That testimony and
       documentation indicate that the bill that ultimately
       became P.A. 14-20 was drafted not in response to the
       precedent of our Supreme Court such as Gould, Flo-
       restal and Doyle but, rather, in response to a decision
       of this intermediate court decided in 1994—four years
       after our Supreme Court’s pronouncement in Gould
       regarding the proper meaning of the term ‘‘underinsured
       motor vehicle.’’ That Appellate Court decision, there-
       fore, demands closer scrutiny.
          In Lenda, the defendant was injured in a five car
       collision caused solely by the negligence of Peter Sey-
       mour, the tortfeasor. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Lenda, supra,
       34 Conn. App. 445. Seymour’s automobile insurance
       policy provided a total of $100,000 in liability coverage,
       which was exhausted through payments to the defen-
       dant and four other injured individuals for both personal
       injuries and property damage they sustained. Id., 445–46
       and 446 n.3. The defendant was paid $73,071.51 as com-
       pensation for personal injuries and $6987.45 for prop-
       erty damage. Id., 446 n.3.
          The defendant’s underinsured motorist policy in
       effect at that time provided $100,000 in coverage. Under
       the terms of that policy, the plaintiff insurer was ‘‘enti-
       tled to reduce the amount of underinsured motorist
       benefits payable to [the defendant] by all the amounts
       paid by or on behalf of Seymour to all injured parties
       both for personal injury and for property damages.’’
       (Emphasis added.) Id., 453. On appeal, the parties dis-
       agreed as to ‘‘whether [that] reduction is allowed under
       § 38a-334-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State
       Agencies.’’ Id. After examining the language of that regu-
       lation, this court concluded that, ‘‘[u]nder the terms and
       provisions of [the defendant’s underinsured motorist
       policy], [the plaintiff] was entitled to reduce the amount
Page 16                   CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                        0, 0

          18                   ,0                    0 Conn. App. 1
                               Bouchard v. Wheeler

          owed to [the defendant] for underinsured motorist cov-
          erage by all amounts paid by or on behalf of Seymour
          to [the defendant] and to others . . . .’’ (Emphasis
          added.) Id., 456. Although the defendant also argued
          that ‘‘the limit of coverage should not be reduced by
          the amounts paid for property damages,’’ this court
          disagreed, stating: ‘‘From our review of the language
          of the regulation, we conclude that the ‘damages’ for
          which there may be a reduction of limits are not limited
          to bodily injury. Therefore, under the language of the
          regulation, damages paid for property damages as well
          as damages paid for bodily injury may be deducted for
          the purpose of reducing limits of coverage.’’ Id., 455.
          The court thus concluded that ‘‘the language of § 38a-
          334-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies
          authorizes [the] type of policy provision’’ contained in
          the defendant’s underinsured motorist policy. Id., 456.
             In Lenda, this court was presented with a question
          regarding the proper application of § 38a-334-6 of the
          Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. Lenda did
          not concern, and did not address, the proper construc-
          tion of the term ‘‘underinsured motor vehicle.’’
             The legislative history of the debate in the House of
          Representatives demonstrates that the intent of P.A.
          14-20 was to clarify the proper meaning of § 38a-334-6
          of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies with
          respect to offsets taken by underinsured motorist carri-
          ers. As our Supreme Court has observed, ‘‘the statement
          of the legislator who reported the bill out of committee
          carries particular weight and deserves careful consider-
          ation.’’ Robinson v. Unemployment Security Board of
          Review, 181 Conn. 1, 15 n.4, 434 A.2d 293 (1980). In
          moving for acceptance of the Insurance and Real Estate
          Committee’s favorable report and passage of the bill
          that became P.A. 14-20, Representative Robert W.
          Megna, the chairman of that committee, introduced the
          bill by stating that ‘‘this is a bill that’s been around our
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                       Page 17

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                   19
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       committee for the last several years. . . . It has to do
       with what we refer to as offsets when it comes to
       uninsured and underinsured motorists claims. . . .
       [T]he Department of Insurance had established regula-
       tions talking about the application of that section of
       the statute . . . and offsets. . . . We had several com-
       plaints. The trial attorneys came in front of our commit-
       tee and it . . . became apparent that . . . there was
       . . . some wiggle room [in the regulations] and some
       insurers may have been taking offsets greater than what
       was really intended under the statute . . . . It was a
       few insurance companies that were taking additional
       offsets. And what this language represents is an agree-
       ment between the industry and the trial attorneys on
       how the correct application of that regulation put out
       by the Department of Insurance should apply.’’ See 57
       H.R. Proc., Pt. 11, 2014 Sess., pp. 3714–15.
           Shortly thereafter, Megna reiterated that the bill was
       ‘‘just really a clarification about the regulation that the
       Department of Insurance had put out.’’ Id., pp. 3719–20.
       Megna explained that, as a matter of practice under
       § 38a-336, ‘‘most carriers . . . would simply take an
       offset for . . . what part of the coverage of the tortfea-
       sor that was paid to . . . the insured. And [what] hap-
       pened was when the Department of Insurance drafted
       the regulation one . . . or more carriers had interpre-
       ted it in such a way that they can take several offsets
       for several individuals that were making claim[s] . . .
       that were passengers of the car or were injured in some
       manner. So essentially it’s really just clarifying . . . the
       intent of the existing statute.’’ Id., p. 3720.
          In his remarks, Representative Richard A. Smith
       noted that ‘‘[t]his is an area of the law that I do practice
       in so I’m interested in hearing the dialogue. I’m actually
       happy to hear [that] this bill [is] being proposed. It’s
       been an issue that we have dealt with . . . over the
       past several years where the offsets have been reduced
Page 18                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                        0, 0

          20                   ,0                     0 Conn. App. 1
                               Bouchard v. Wheeler

          just based on the number of claimants disregarding who
          actually received the money.’’ Id., p. 3732. The following
          colloquy then ensued:
            ‘‘[Representative Smith]: But just so I’m sure and for
          the colleagues out there who might be interested in
          what [is] in this bill . . . if there is [a] $100,000 [under-
          insured] policy and a tortfeasor policy of $20,000 how
          much available coverage then would be available to the
          insured? . . .
             ‘‘[Representative Megna]: . . . I believe $80,000.
          . . .
             ‘‘[Representative Smith]: And thank you for that. And
          then if there were several claimants against that
          [$]20,000 policy which probably would be a $40,000
          multiple claim policy. If [$]40,000 of that policy was
          paid out to various parties and the insured . . . actu-
          ally received $30,000 total, how much then would be
          left pursuant to his underinsured policy? . . .
            ‘‘[Representative Megna]: . . . [H]is offset would be
          the $30,000 . . . which would leave $70,000 collectible
          under his [underinsured] policy . . . .
             ‘‘[Representative Smith]: . . . Thank you. And that’s
          how I . . . came to the same answer and we’re not
          using hard math here so . . . I’m trying to keep it sim-
          ple. But the [$]70,000 that’s available now to the insured
          because he received [$]30,000 from the tortfeasor, that
          [$]70,000 under this bill would still be available regard-
          less of how much else the tortfeasor’s insurance com-
          pany paid out. As long as the insured received [$]30,000
          then the only offset would be that [$]30,000. Just want
          to be clear. . . .
             ‘‘[Representative Megna]: . . . [T]hat’s the way I
          understand it. . . . [T]he intent would be for those car-
          riers not to take an offset greater than that [$]30,000
          hypothetical if there were somebody else in the vehicle
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                        Page 19

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                    21
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       that also collected from the tortfeasor’s policy. And
       that’s really . . . the essence of the bill before us.’’ Id.,
       pp. 3732–35.
          Megna then explained that P.A. 14-20 ‘‘comes out of
       a regulation that the Department of Insurance had [that
       provided] wiggle room for those few carriers that took
       other injured [parties’] offsets off of the insured’s limit
       of liability. . . . [The carriers] got that ability . . .
       through a department regulation . . . . But yes the
       intent is to clarify the statute so to speak. . . . [B]ut
       the argument [for this bill] seemed to have come out of
       . . . the drafting of this regulation by the Department
       of Insurance that had to do with offsets under that
       section of the statute.’’ Id., p. 3736.
         Shortly thereafter, another pertinent colloquy occurred
       between Representatives Smith and Megna:
         ‘‘[Representative Smith]: . . . [L]adies and gentle-
       men of the Chamber, this is a significant point so for
       legislative intent purposes what I’m hearing [from] the
       good Chairman is that . . . the intent of the current
       legislation is that the offset should be only that amount
       which the insured actually received. That was the intent
       then, that is the intent now and that will be the intent
       moving forward . . . . Is that fair to say? . . .
         ‘‘[Representative Megna]: . . . Absolutely. That is
       the intent. . . . That is the intent of this bill. That’s the
       intent of the legislation. . . .
         ‘‘[Representative Smith]: . . . I appreciate the Chair-
       man’s confirmation of the intent of this statute, the
       intent of the existing law . . . . The intent being that
       offsets are only those amounts that the insured actually
       received. That’s our current law. This bill just clarifies
       that law.’’ Id., pp. 3743–45.
         Furthermore, although the legislative history contains
       several hypothetical scenarios that outline when such
Page 20                         CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                     0, 0

          22                          ,0                           0 Conn. App. 1
                                      Bouchard v. Wheeler

          offsets properly may be taken, none involved the sce-
          nario at issue here, in which the tortfeasor and the
          claimant had identical coverage limits in their respec-
          tive insurance policies. In every such hypothetical, the
          claimant’s underinsured motorist coverage exceeded
          the limits of tortfeasor’s liability coverage.9

             The legislative history thus confirms that the intent
          of P.A. 14-20 was to clarify the extent to which underin-
          sured motorist carriers properly may take offsets pursu-
          ant to § 38a-334-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut
          State Agencies and § 38a-336 (b). Indeed, the title of
          P.A. 14-20 is ‘‘An Act Concerning Uninsured and Under-
          insured Motorist Coverage Offsets.’’ See Peck v. Jacque-
          min, 196 Conn. 53, 68 n.17, 491 A.2d 1043 (1985) (‘‘[t]he
          title and stated purpose of legislation are, while not
          conclusive, valuable aids to construction’’).

             We have carefully reviewed the legislative history
          of P.A. 14-20. Nothing in it suggests that the General
          Assembly intended to alter the definition of ‘‘underin-
          sured motor vehicle’’ contained in § 38a-336 (e).10 If the
          legislature wanted to amend that statutory definition,
          it certainly knew how to do so. See Scholastic Book
          Clubs, Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue Services, 304
          Conn. 204, 219, 38 A.3d 1183 (‘‘it is a well settled princi-
          ple of statutory construction that the legislature knows
          how to convey its intent expressly’’), cert. denied, 568
          U.S. 940, 133 S. Ct. 425, 184 L. Ed. 2d 255 (2012). The
             9
               There was one instance in which Representative Megna began to refer-
          ence a situation in which both the tortfeasor’s liability coverage and the
          claimant’s underinsured motorist coverage were $100,000. Megna stopped
          himself midsentence when he realized that, in such a scenario, ‘‘if [the
          claimant] had [a] $100,000 limit it would cancel it out,’’ and then immediately
          altered the hypothetical to one in which the claimant had a $200,000 limit.
          57 H.R. Proc., supra, p. 3754, remarks of Representative Megna.
             10
                Although the legislative history is replete with references to underin-
          sured motorist coverage, the term ‘‘underinsured motor vehicle’’ does not
          appear once in that history.
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                      Page 21

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                  23
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       legislature nevertheless made no changes to § 38a-
       336 (e).

          We also are mindful that ‘‘[t]he legislature is presumed
       to know the judicial interpretation placed upon a statute
       . . . and [is] presumed . . . to be cognizant of judicial
       decisions relevant to the subject matter of a statute
       . . . and to know the state of existing relevant law
       . . . .’’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks
       omitted.) State v. Fernando A., supra, 294 Conn. 19;
       see also Alvarez v. New Haven Register, Inc., 249 Conn.
       709, 722, 735 A.2d 306 (1999) (‘‘[t]he legislature is pre-
       sumed to be aware of [our Supreme Court’s] deci-
       sions’’). We therefore must presume that the legislature,
       in enacting P.A. 14-20, was aware that our Supreme
       Court repeatedly has held that the ‘‘[a]pplication of
       § 38a-336 involves two separate inquiries. First, it must
       be determined whether the tortfeasor’s vehicle is an
       ‘underinsured vehicle’ within the meaning of the statute.
       Second, after this determination is made and underin-
       sured motorist coverage is found to be applicable, the
       finder of fact calculates the amount of the award to be
       paid the victim.’’ Covenant Ins. Co. v. Coon, supra, 220
       Conn. 33; see also Doyle v. Metropolitan Property &
       Casualty Ins. Co., supra, 252 Conn. 84. We also must
       presume that the legislature was aware that our Supreme
       Court consistently has held that the former inquiry
       entails application of the definition of ‘‘underinsured
       motor vehicle’’ set forth in § 38a-336 (e); see Doyle v.
       Metropolitan Property & Casualty Ins. Co., supra,
       87–88; Florestal v. Government Employees Ins. Co.,
       supra, 236 Conn. 301; American Motorists Ins. Co. v.
       Gould, supra, 213 Conn. 632; which requires a compari-
       son of the coverage limits contained in the respective
       insurance policies of the tortfeasor and the claimant.
       In light of the foregoing, we are hard-pressed to con-
       clude that the legislature intended to amend that critical
Page 22                         CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                     0, 0

          24                          ,0                           0 Conn. App. 1
                                      Bouchard v. Wheeler

          statutory definition—and overrule that substantial body
          of Supreme Court precedent—sub silentio.11
                                               IV
             We therefore conclude that the legislature, in enacting
          P.A. 14-20, did not intend to alter the definition of an
          ‘‘underinsured motor vehicle’’ or to overrule the prece-
          dent of our Supreme Court in Doyle v. Metropolitan
          Property & Casualty Ins. Co., supra, 252 Conn. 79,
          Florestal v. Government Employees Ins. Co., supra, 236
          Conn. 299, and American Motorists Ins. Co. v. Gould,
          supra, 213 Conn. 625, as the plaintiffs suggest. To the
          contrary, our review of the legislative history reveals
          that P.A. 14-20 was enacted in direct response to this
          court’s decision in Lenda, which held that § 38a-334-6
          of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies per-
          mitted insurance carriers to offset underinsured motor-
          ist benefits owed to an insured claimant ‘‘by all amounts
          paid by or on behalf of [the tortfeasor] to [the insured
          claimant] and to others for both bodily injury and prop-
          erty damages.’’ (Emphasis added.) Allstate Ins. Co. v.
          Lenda, supra, 34 Conn. App. 456. As the association
          emphasized in its March 4, 2014 letter to the legislature’s
          Insurance and Real Estate Committee, the bill that
          became P.A. 14-20 was drafted ‘‘to correct this inequity
          by disallowing any reduction in underinsured/uninsured
          motorist coverage for amounts paid by or on behalf of
          any tortfeasor for bodily injury to anyone other than
          the individuals insured under the policy against which
            11
              See, e.g., Gilmore v. Pawn King, Inc., 313 Conn. 535, 569–72, 98 A.3d
          808 (2014) (Espinosa, J., dissenting) (noting that our Supreme Court ‘‘consis-
          tently [has] required clear evidence in the legislative record to support [the]
          conclusion’’ that ‘‘a legislative amendment was intended to overrule our
          prior decision construing a statute’’ and ‘‘that in the absence of clear and
          unequivocal evidence of legislative intent to overrule one of our prior inter-
          pretive decisions, that decision continues to control the meaning of the
          relevant statutory provision’’); see id. (Espinosa, J., dissenting) (discussing
          case law construing ‘‘clear evidence’’).
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                     Page 23

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                 25
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       the claim is being made. [It] further prohibits any reduc-
       tions for payments made by the tortfeasor on behalf of
       property damage.’’ Simply put, § 38a-336 (b), as
       amended by P.A. 14-20, precludes the practice affirma-
       tively condoned by this court in Lenda.
          The plaintiffs nonetheless contend that, because our
       Supreme Court has held that § 38a-336 is a remedial
       statute, it must be construed liberally to protect people
       injured by underinsured motorists. See, e.g., Tannone
       v. Amica Mutual Ins. Co., supra, 329 Conn. 673 (‘‘public
       policy dictates that every insured is entitled to recover
       for the damages he or she would have been able to
       recover if the uninsured motorist [responsible for the
       insured’s injury] had maintained a policy of liability
       insurance’’ (internal quotation marks omitted)); but see
       Smith v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America, 225 Conn. 566,
       573, 624 A.2d 892 (1993) (‘‘underinsured motorist pro-
       tection is not intended to provide a greater recovery
       than would have been available from the tortfeasor’’).
       In so doing, they overlook the fact that our Supreme
       Court has expressly declined to apply that maxim of
       liberal construction in the specific context now before
       us. As the court explained: ‘‘[I]n other contexts we have
       described our uninsured and underinsured motorist
       coverage statute as having a broad and remedial pur-
       pose. . . . In none of those cases, however, did we
       employ that description in order to decide whether a
       vehicle met the statutory definition of an underinsured
       motor vehicle. Furthermore, such a description cannot
       override the purpose of the statute to put the injured
       party in no better or worse a position than he would
       have been in had the tortfeasor carried adequate insur-
       ance. Thus, the description of the statute as remedial
       cannot convert an adequately insured motor vehicle
       into an underinsured motor vehicle.’’ (Citations omit-
       ted; emphasis in original.) Doyle v. Metropolitan Prop-
       erty & Casualty Ins. Co., supra, 252 Conn. 88 n.5. That
       logic applies equally here.
Page 24                        CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                                   0, 0

          26                         ,0                         0 Conn. App. 1
                                     Bouchard v. Wheeler

             There may well be cases in which an inequity results
          from the application of the underinsured motorist laws
          of this state when an accident involves multiple claim-
          ants. As our Supreme Court aptly noted, ‘‘redress from
          any such unfairness must be sought from the legislature,
          not from the courts . . . .’’12 Florestal v. Government
          Employees Ins. Co., supra, 236 Conn. 310; see also
          Dugas v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co., 217 Conn.
          631, 647, 587 A.2d 415 (1991) (‘‘even if the plaintiff is
          correct that this result [under the statute in question]
          is anomalous, his remedy lies with the legislature or
          the insurance commissioner, not with this court’’); Roy
          v. Centennial Ins. Co., 171 Conn. 463, 476, 370 A.2d
          1011 (1976) (‘‘[t]his court cannot . . . by a tortured
          construction of the statutory . . . provisions, indi-
          rectly eliminate possible inequities in coverage, where
          the legislature has failed to do so directly’’). Principles
          of judicial restraint constrain this court from adopting
          a judicial construction of § 38a-336 that is not supported
          by either the plain language of that statute or extratex-
          tual sources.
             In light of the foregoing, and applying the well estab-
          lished precedent of our Supreme Court to the present
          case, the Wheeler vehicle plainly is not an underinsured
          motor vehicle as that term is used in § 38a-336. See
          Doyle v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Ins. Co.,
          supra, 252 Conn. 87–88; Florestal v. Government
             12
                For example, Colorado previously defined an underinsured motor vehi-
          cle in relevant part as a motor vehicle with liability coverage limits that
          were less than the insured’s underinsured motorist limits or less than the
          insured’s underinsured motorist limits after having been ‘‘[r]educed by pay-
          ments to persons other than an insured in the accident . . . .’’ Colo. Rev.
          Stat. § 10-4-609 (1995); see also Leetz v. Amica Mutual Ins. Co., 839 P.2d
          511, 512–13 (Colo. App. 1992) (interpreting § 10-4-609 and concluding that
          its reduction provision was not applicable to payments made to persons who
          were insureds under underinsured motorist policy). In 2007, the Colorado
          legislature amended § 10-4-609 and deleted that reduction provision. See
          2007 Colo. Sess. Laws 1921.
0, 0                    CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                       Page 25

       0 Conn. App. 1                      ,0                   27
                            Bouchard v. Wheeler

       Employees Ins. Co., supra, 236 Conn. 301; American
       Motorists Ins. Co. v. Gould, supra, 213 Conn. 632. The
       tortfeasor’s liability coverage is not less than, but rather
       is identical to, the plaintiffs’ underinsured motorist cov-
       erage. See General Statutes § 38a-336 (e). For that rea-
       son, the trial court improperly denied the defendant’s
       motion for summary judgment.
         The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded
       with direction to render judgment for the defendant.
         In this opinion the other judges concurred.