Court Opinion

ID: 9565630
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:24:48.611948+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:48.085963
License: Public Domain

Justice PLEICONES.
I respectfully dissent and would affirm the circuit court’s order finding Rollison was not a guest within the coverage of the Auto Owners’ policy.
I agree with the majority that our decision in this case rests on our interpretation of “insured” found in S.C.Code Ann. § 38-77-30(7)(2002)7:
“Insured” means the named insured and, while resident of the same household, the spouse of any named insured and relatives of either, while in a motor vehicle or otherwise, and any person who uses with the consent, expressed or implied, of the named insured the motor vehicle to which the policy applies and a guest in the motor vehicle to which the policy applies or the personal representative of any of the above.
As I read the statute, “insured” means the named insured and resident relatives, persons using the car with the consent of the named insured, and their guests. While I agree that a guest need not obtain the consent of the named insured to be covered by the policy, in my view, whether a passenger is a “guest insured” is dependent on the status of the person “inviting” him. The statute unequivocally provides that all passengers of the named insured and her resident relatives are “guest insureds,” as are passengers invited by permissive users. On the other hand, passengers who were not “invited” by one of these persons-the named insured, her resident relatives, permissive users are not guests and are therefore not insureds. This analysis is consistent with our decision in Unisun Ins. Co. v. Schmidt, 339 S.C. 362, 529 S.E.2d 280 (2000). In Unisun, it was the status of the injured passenger *615as an “invitee” of both the named insured and the permissive user which made her a “guest” and thus an insured. Since Rollison was invited by a driver who did not have permission, I agree with the trial court that he is not a “guest insured” under the statute and therefore not entitled to recover under the policy.
I do not agree that the status of a passenger should be determined from his perspective, and furthermore do not agree with the majority’s holding that there is a presumption that a passenger invited by the driver has been invited with the named insured’s consent.8 If the Court determines to create this test and this presumption, then in my opinion the case must be remanded for a hearing on this specific factual inquiry.
I would affirm the circuit court order.

. Unlike the majority, I am not persuaded that the interpretation of this term in § 38-77-30(7) is impacted by the remedial nature of the uninsured motorist statute, S.C.Code Ann. § 38-77-150.

. One need only think of the implications where the driver of a stolen vehicle invites passengers to ride along, and they are subsequently involved in a serious accident.