The Missouri Supreme Court recently decided against the insurance company regarding an Underinsured Motorist provision in an automobile insurance policy. The case was Jones v. Mid-Century Insurance Company, 2009 WL 187211 (Mo. Banc 2009). Underinsured motorist coverage is a type of coverage sold by insurance companies to protect motorists injured in automobile accidents if the driver that caused the accident did not have enough liability coverage to pay for the injured party's damages. In this case, plaintiffs Jones and Brown sued Mid-Century Insurance Company seeking $100,000 in underinsured motorist coverage under their automobile insurance policy. The insurance company claimed that the plaintiffs were only entitled to $50,000 each because they received $50,000 each from the person who caused the accident.
Missouri law is well settled that where one provision of a policy appears to grant coverage and another provision takes it away, the policy language will be considered ambiguous and construed in favor of the person who is insured under the policy. This is particularly true where, as here, Mid Century's interpretation of the policy language would mean that it never actually would be required to pay its insureds the full amount of underinsured motorist coverage that it purported to provide.
Missouri law only requires drivers or automobile owners to carry liability limits of $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident . Even a minor accident can result in medical bills, lost wages and other losses that can easily exceed these minimum liability limits. For that reason, we recommend that our clients purchase underinsured motorist coverage to ensure that if you or your loved ones are involved in an automobile accident caused by another person, you have adequate insurance to cover your damages.
If you have questions about underinsured motorist coverage, or if an insurance company denies your claim, please contact one of our attorneys at Tatlow, Gump & Faiella, LLC about your claim.
