Court Opinion

ID: 9756636
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:43:32.484004+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:56:58.953008
License: Public Domain

FORD ELLIOTT, Judge,
dissenting:
Despite my agreement with much of the majority’s analysis, I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that a party added to a policy as a named insured after another *150named insured has executed a sign-down in uninsured motorist benefits is bound by that sign-down.
I agree with the majority that, where a first named insured has executed a valid sign-down under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1734, any other individuals who are named insureds at the time the sign-down is executed are bound by the terms of the sign-down. This analysis comports with the rule of statutory construction that requires us to construe sections of a statute so as not to promote or further an absurd result. Crosby by Crosby v. Sultz, 405 Pa.Super. 527, 540-41, 592 A.2d 1337, 1344-45 (1991). Section 1731, which allows an insured to reject uninsured motorist coverage altogether, only requires the signature of the first named insured; therefore, to require signatures of other named insureds under § 1734, in which only a reduction of uninsured motorist benefits is contemplated, would be to countenance such an absurd result.
In addition, I am comfortable with the fiction that other parties to an insurance contract (other named insureds) are presumed to have acquiesced in its terms, and even in additions or deletions to its terms, because they are presumed to have been aware of the terms at the time the contract was formed or altered. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that in every case cited by the majority in which such a result was reached, the court based its determination that other named insureds were bound by the sign-down or waiver on the particular facts and circumstances of the case rather than upon a clear application of the rules of statutory interpretation. See, for example, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Lindsey, 3 D. & C.4th 659 (York Cty., 1989), affirmed, 414 Pa.Super. 658, 598 A.2d 1337 (1991) (wife named insured is bound by uninsured/underinsured limits requested in writing by husband). Accord Hepler v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 7 D. & C.4th 521 (Cumberland Cty., 1990) (Hepler II). But see Groff v. Continental Insurance Co., 741 F.Supp. 541 (E.D.Pa.1990) (any reduction of uninsured motorist coverage in writing by husband was not effective as to wife who was also named insured).
*151The instant ease is factually distinct, however, from these cases. Appellant in the case before us was added as a named insured after her mother executed a sign down in uninsured motorist benefits. Prior to appellant’s purchase of a car in March of 1991, appellant had merely been an insured, as a member of her mother’s household who operated a motor vehicle registered in her mother’s name. According to the terms of the policy, however, appellant’s new car, registered in her name, could only be covered by the policy if she became a named insured. Her addition to the policy as a named insured thus elevated her status from that of third party beneficiary of the policy, as were other members of the household who drove cars registered in mother’s name, to a party to the contract itself. As to the coverage on appellant’s own car, her rights under the policy were thus distinct from those of her mother. As such, she was entitled to receive notice of her statutory right to purchase up to $300,000 of uninsured motorist coverage. Likewise, appellee was required to obtain a written sign-down from appellant as required by § 1734.
The sections of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act at issue place upon the insurer the burden of notifying an insured of his or her right to obtain an amount of uninsured motorist coverage equal to the liability insurance provided by the policy. Botsko v. Donegal Mutual Insurance Co., 423 Pa.Super. 41, 45, 620 A.2d 30, 32 (1993) (if insurer does not follow statute governing notice of available benefits and limits respecting uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, statutory mandate regarding such coverage may be complied with only by including coverage or by obtaining affirmatively expressed rejection in writing from insured). I cannot agree, therefore, that appellant in the instant case is bound by her mother’s sign-down. Having failed to notify appellant of her rights, or to obtain a waiver of those rights in writing as required by statute, appellee should be required to provide uninsured motorist benefits to appellant in the amount equal to the limits of liability for bodily injury under the terms of the policy upon which she is a named insured.