pennsylvania association for justice · schmidt kramer p.c. 209 state street • harrisburg, pa...
TRANSCRIPT
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Pennsylvania
Association for Justice
Annual Update
Auto Law – PAJ Retreat
Bedford
2014
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SCHMIDT KRAMER P.C. 209 State Street • Harrisburg, PA 17101
27 South 34th Street • Camp Hill, PA 17011 717-232-6300 717-888-8888 1-800-232-6301
Presentation will be posted at www.schmidtkramer.com
Scott B. Cooper, Esquire
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Koken Issues
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Stepanovich
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• Pelc v. Burkell and State Farm, XXX
Crawford Co. L. J. 64 (2013)
• Oaks v. Erie Ins. Exchange and Austin,
2012-CV-3741
• Otto (forum selection clause)
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Qualifications of “Insured”
• Vanderhoff
• Gallagher v. Ohio Casualty
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Statute Of Limitations
• State Farm v. Rosenthal, 484 F.3d 251 (3d
Cir. 2007)
• Hopkins. V. Erie Insurance Company, 65
A.3d 452 (Pa. Super. Ct. April 19, 2013)
• Wilson v. Great American
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Section 1731
• Applies commercial fleet (Egan – 4/2/14)
• Can be on same page
• Must “specifically comply” but not hyper-
technicality (Vaxmonsky)
• Applies through entire policy (Blood)
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• Jones v. Unitrin
• Robinson v. Travelers (Third Circuit)
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Section 1734 Written Request for Lower Limits
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• Does not contain specific form
• A Named Insured
• Applies throughout entire lifetime of policy
• Check the policy history
• Must be executed by someone with
authority
• Can be application (Orsag – March 2011)
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Limitations of Orsag
• Still must be a writing by insured.
• Still must be authorized signature
(Erie Ins. v. Holt)
• Weilacher v. State Farm
• Henderson v. Charter Oak (not in
book)
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Sackett – I, II, or III
• Bumbarger v. Peerless (June 6,
2014)*******
• Grudkowski v. Foremost (antique)
Section 1738
Rejection of Stacking
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• Applies throughout unless you add a car,
then may not apply (Sackett I)
• Applies if delete a car (Sackett I)
• Applies if replace a car (Sackett I)
• “first named insured” must sign (1738)
• Applies to corporate but not fleet policy
(Everhart)
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Household/Family
Car Exclusion
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Erie v. Baker Issue
• Whether section 1738(a) of the MVFRL
precludes the application of the so-called
“household exclusion” to prevent
inter-policy UIM stacking when there has
been no valid waiver of stacking by the
insured?
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Must Be “Occupying”
• Swarner v. Mutual Benefit
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Household
• Baker—Different Company’s
• Ayers—Same company in entire house
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Ayers Issue • Does the application of a household exclusion
violate Section 1738 of the Motor Vehicle
Financial Responsibility Law (“MVFRL”), where
the same insurance company insures all
vehicles owned by an insured, and, where the
exclusion denies inter-policy stacking to the
insured who has paid for stacking and has not
executed a stacking waiver?
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Justice Saylor Opinion
In Support Of Affirmance
“I would disapprove the utilization by an insurer of separate policies pertaining to multiple vehicles within the same household solely to subvert intra-policy stacking without any risk-based justification. Nevertheless I am persuaded…that the writing of separate policies, and enforcement of the household exclusion, is justified relative to motorcycle insurance coverage.”
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Regular Use - Williams • Whether, under the MVFRL and the decision in
Burstein v. Prudential Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 809
A.2d 204 (Pa. 2002), the “regular use” exclusion to
underinsured motorist coverage in an automobile
insurance policy is valid where the insured is a
police officer, who has sustained bodily injury in the
course of performing his duties while driving a
police vehicle for which vehicle he could not have
obtained underinsured motorist coverage?
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Regular Use
• Williams v. GEICO
• Ciminel
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Workers’ Comp Exclusion
• Heller v. Penn. League
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Heller Issue
• Whether or not the Honorable Court
should strike down an exclusion in
[Respondents’] policy providing that
any person receiving workers’
compensation benefits was ineligible
for UM/UIM benefits?
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Co-Employee
• Erie Insurance v. Conley
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Setoffs
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Smith v. Rohrbaugh
UM/UIM are not first party – Petition for
Allowance Of Appeal Denied On April 9,
2013. But see AAA Mid-Atlantic
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Evidentiary Auto Issues
• Aminov
• Roth
• Marlette v. State Farm
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Renner (UIM/Del. MVA)
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Bad Faith Issues
Allstate v. Wolfe – Under
Pennsylvania law, can an insured
tortfeasor assign his or her bad faith
claim against an insurer, under 42
Pa.C.S. Section 8371, to an injured
third party?
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Bad Faith Issues
• Strausser (April 7, 2014) (not in book)
• Grossi
• Clark
• Deibler and Tubman
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The End
See Ya
Next Year!