Court Opinion

ID: 9705059
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:55:40.569906+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:07.701719
License: Public Domain

CASTILLE, Justice,
dissenting.
The effect of the majority opinion essentially allows a party who is injured in a motor vehicle accident to monetarily profit from their injury, and in some cases reap benefits that would in effect double his or her salary. The purpose of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law is simply to make an injured party whole; not to bestow upon an injured party a windfall. Accordingly, I must dissent as I disagree with the Superior Court’s holding and this Court’s affirmance thereof.
Following appellee’s motor vehicle accident in December of 1987, appellee received sick leave benefits that were equivalent to his monthly gross income for a period of approximately eight months. At the time of his accident, appellee’s monthly gross income was $2,733.50. According to the majority, appel-lee would be entitled to receive this $2,733.50 per month in addition to his Income Loss Benefits pursuant 75 Pa.C.S. § 1712(2)(i) of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law which permits the insured to receive 80% of his actual loss of gross income.1 Thus, appellee would be entitled to receive *12080% of $2,733.50 or $2,186.80 per month plus $2,733.50 per month in sick pay benefits. Appellee’s total benefits for this eight month period (sick pay plus income loss benefits) would equal approximately $39,362.40. Had appellee not been injured during this same period he would have received $21,-868.00. Thus, the Superior Court’s ruling allows appellee to nearly double the monthly income he would have received had he not been injured.
At the end of the eight month period, in August of 1988, appellee’s sick pay benefits terminated at which time he began to receive $857.90 in social security benefits per month as a result of his injuries. The Superior Court held that appellee would be entitled to receive this $857.90 in addition to $2,186.80 (80% of appellee’s former monthly gross income). The sum of the social security benefits plus 80% of his monthly gross income amounts to $3,044.70 per month. Thus, under this scenario, appellee would make $311.20 per month more than he would have received were he still working ($3,044.70 — monthly salary of $2,733.50 = $311.20).
I believe these results are contrary to the purpose of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law which was enacted to curb the rising costs of automobile insurance. See Lambert v. McClure, 407 Pa.Super. 257, 262, 595 A.2d 629, 631 (1991); Persik v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., 382 Pa.Super. 29, 36, 554 A.2d 930, 934 (1989) (purpose of the MVFRL was to reduce the escalating costs of purchasing car insurance and to confront the problems caused by the high numbers of uninsured motorists). The goal of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law should be to make the party whole in the event of an accident and should not put a party in a better position than he or she was had the accident not occurred. Profiting from car accidents fosters fraud and encourages malingering, thereby defeating the purpose of the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law. This should not be permitted.
According to the plain language of 75 Pa.C.S. § 1712(2)(i), an insured is entitled to recover only 80% of his or her actual loss in gross income. Here, appellee did not suffer any actual *121economic loss during the first eight months of his injury because he received sick pay benefits that were equal to his gross income. Therefore, pursuant to § 1712(2)(i) appellee should be precluded from receiving any income loss benefits during the eight month period since appellee did not actually suffer a loss in his gross income.
With respect to the period following the eight month period, appellee received social security benefits as a direct result of the accident. Thus, appellee’s actual loss of gross income was actually being reduced in part by his social security benefits. Therefore, Liberty Mutual should be permitted to deduct appellee’s social security benefits from his monthly gross income before calculating appellee’s actual loss in gross income ($2,733.50 (gross income) — $857.90 (social security benefits) x 80% = $1,500.48).2
Unfortunately, the majority’s affirmance of the Superior Court’s calculations in both instances actually permits appellee to recover more than he actually lost in gross income. Accordingly, I must dissent to the affirmance of the Superior Court’s opinion.

. Section 1712(2)(i) states in relevant part:
An insurer issuing or delivering liability insurance policies covering any motor vehicle of the type required to be registered under this title, ... shall make available for purchase first party benefits with respect to injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as follows:
(2) Income loss benefit. — Includes the following:
(i) Eighty percent of actual loss of gross income.
75 Pa.C.S. § 1712(2)(i) (emphasis added).

. Liberty Mutual argues that its liability to appellee should be calculated by multiplying his normal monthly salary by 80% and then subtracting the social security benefits from the 80%. If this calculation were performed, Liberty Mutual would then be required to pay appellee only $1,328.90 per month ($2,733.50 (gross income) x 80% — $857.90 (social security benefits) = $1,328.90). Were this scenario accepted, Liberty Mutual would then be paying less than 80% of appellee’s actual loss of gross income. This assertion is incorrect as it also serves to circumvent the liability imposed under § 1712(2)(i).