Court Opinion

ID: 9695249
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:13:39.314301+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:10.359956
License: Public Domain

SHERTZ, Judge,
concurring:
I disagree with the majority’s unnecessary conclusion that “uninsured” does not mean “underinsured,” in cases where due to the presence of multiple claimants, the amount available to any or each of them is reduced below the minimum amount required by the financial responsibility provisions of the Pennsylvania No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act, 40 Pa.Stat.Ann. § 1009.104 (Purdon 1981). Slip op. at 7, 8.
*205In the instant case, Appellant, Gus Davis, recovered from the tort-feasor’s insuror an amount in excess of $15,000, the minimum amount required by the aforementioned Act. I therefore do not believe that it is necessary, or proper, to decide whether the same result will obtain in circumstances where the amount of insurance remaining, for the benefit of one or more claimants, is less than the minimum amount specified by the Act.1
Although I disagree with the reasoning by which the majority reaches its conclusion, I nevertheless agree with that conclusion on the instant facts. Since the amount specified by the Act was available to, and received by, Appellants the tortfeasor cannot be deemed to have been “uninsured” or “underinsured.” Consequently, there is no basis, whatsoever, for the “stacking” permitted in State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Williams, 481 Pa. 130, 392 A.2d 281 (1978).

. There is a marked distinction between the case where a claimant seeks to recover under the uninsured motorist clause because he contends that his damages exceed the minimum amount specified in the Act and received by him, and a case where, because of multiple claimants, the amount available to the claimant seeking to recover uninsured motorist benefits is less than the minimum amount specified in the Act. See Widess, A Guide to Uninsured Motorist Coverage, § 2.35A (1969) (1981 Supp.).