How to Determine the Amount of Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage Available
When a car accident occurs with an underinsured motorist, one needs to look to the laws of his or her state and your insurance policy to determine the amount of uninsured motorist coverage that is available. I have been litigating car wreck cases now for 18 years in Mississippi, and the issue of “stacking” uninsured motorist coverage is a popular topic for appellate review. “Stacking” is the combination or aggregation of uninsured motorist coverage limits for different policies, often on different vehicles, to ensure that an injured insured is allowed to recover the full extent of their damages. Stacking issues arise in two situations in underinsured motorist cases: (1) when stacking is considered for purposes of allowing the insured to recover full damages caused by a car wreck, and (2) the issue of stacking policies’ limits to “trigger” underinsured motorist coverage.
While most states allow at least some version of stacking of uninsured motorist policy coverage limits, some states do not allow stacking to determine whether the insured is eligible for underinsured coverage. In response to attempts at stacking or adding coverage limits, some insurance companies have incorporated various types of “antistacking” clauses into their uninsured motorist policies. Antistacking policy language often precludes situations where other insurance exists.
In Mississippi, the injured insured is classified as either a Class I or Class II insured and this classification determines whether the insured is allowed to stack uninsured motorist coverage. The Class I and Class II distinction of insureds depends upon the following: Whether the person is a “named” insured on the subject policy(ies) or whether the person is an occupant who is eligible for underinsured motorist coverage only because of their “occupancy” in the particular vehicle involved in the car accident.
Named insureds, meaning the insured named on the subject automobile insurance policy, as well as the relatives in their household, are considered Class I insureds. A named insured’s coverage is far broader that that of an occupancy insured and coverage is not limited to incidents when the named insured is occupying the insured vehicle. In the context of the Class I insured, stacking of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is permissible in Mississippi. Thus, named insureds are able to stack uninsured motorist insurance limits more frequently than occupancy insureds.
A Class II insured is an individual who is insured because he or she is an occupant in the insured vehicle at the time of the car accident. In Mississippi, a Class I insured is allowed to stack uninsured motorist coverage, however, a Class II insured is only entitled to the uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits that apply to the insured vehicle which was occupied at the time of the accident. Therefore, an occupancy or Class II insured is not insured under any additional policy that insures other non-involved vehicles that are insured by the owner of the occupied vehicle.
Please consider the following scenario which illustrates stacking principles:
Mr. Brown is fatally injured in a two vehicle accident as a result of the negligence of an underinsured motorist. Mr. Brown was riding as an occupant in a vehicle insured and owned by Mr. Joe. Mr. Brown has two automobile insurance policies for two separately insured vehicles; each policy has uninsured motorist coverage policy limits in the amount of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident. Mr. Joe has uninsured motorist coverage policy limits for the occupied vehicle in the amount of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident. Mr. Joe also has numerous other insurance policies insuring different uninvolved vehicles. Mr. Brown’s actual damages are more than the amount of liability coverage limits held by the at-fault driver.
Regarding stacking, Mr. Brown is a named insured or Class I insured under his two automobile insurance policies. Therefore, Mr. Brown’s estate may stack those two uninsured motorist policy limits with that of the vehicle owned by Mr. Joe in which Mr. Brown was a passenger.
According to Mississippi law, Mr. Brown would be classified as an occupancy or Class II insured regarding the policy owned by Mr. Joe for the vehicle that Mr. Brown was a passenger at the time of the wreck. In this scenario, Mr. Brown is entitled to stack his own uninsured motorist coverage policy limits with the uninsured motorist policy limits of the vehicle in which he was riding. However, as a Class II insured, Mr. Brown’s estate may not stack Mr. Joe’s uninsured motorist coverage limits from the policies covering Mr. Joe’s other uninvolved vehicles.
Let us change the above scenario to address corporate coverage. Assume that Mr. Brown is an employee of Mr. Joe. In addition to the uninsured motorist coverage on the occupied vehicle, Mr. Joe also has 31 additional vehicles insured as a part of his business. Where Mr. Brown is an employee occupying a vehicle covered under his employer’s business automobile policy and is not a named insured under the employer’s policy Mr. Brown is a Class II insured and he does not have the right to stack his employer’s 31 additional policies’ uninsured motorist coverage.
In sum, stacking is an important and often litigated topic when it comes to determining how much coverage is available in the unfortunate circumstance of being involved in a car wreck with an uninsured or underinsured at-fault motorist. It pays to know that there are instances where uninsured motorist coverage can be combined to allow for more recovery in such situations.
Melinda O. Johnson, who has been a practicing insurance lawyer in Biloxi, Gulfport and Ocean Springs, Mississippi for the last 18 years, has been a featured speaker in seminars for claims personnel of large insurance companies and for fellow attorneys on the topics of insurance coverage, bodily injury, and automobile liability litigation. To learn more about Melinda’s experience and these topics visit her website or call her at (228) 447-3504.. Check here for free reprint license: How to Determine the Amount of Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage Available.
Tags: car accidents, car wrecks, Insurance, insurance coverage, insurance policy limits, law in Mississippi, Mississippi law, motor vehicle accidents, stacking coverage, stacking policy limits, underinsured motorists coverage, uninsured motorist coverage