ALOK AHUJA, Judge.
Shelly Chandler and Ted Huber (collectively "Chandler") are the parents of Alexander Huber, who was killed in an automobile accident while riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by Steven Jimenez. Chandler obtained a judgment against Jimenez in the amount of $200,000, and sought to recover on the judgment under the insurance policy insuring Jimenez's vehicle. Chandler appeals from a judgment entered by the Circuit Court of Platte County, which found that she was entitled to only $50,000 in bodily injury liability coverage, and $2,000 in medical payments coverage, under the policy. We affirm.
On January 2, 2011, Alexander Huber was killed while riding in the passenger seat of a 2002 BMW driven by Steven Jimenez. The BMW was owned jointly by Jimenez and his mother, Edna Wijnterp. The vehicle was insured by Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Co. under an insurance policy that was issued to Edna Wijnterp and her husband Peter Wijnterp ("the Policy"). The Policy also insured two other vehicles owned by the Wijnterps, a 1999 Ford Taurus and a 2001 Volvo S60.
On February 10, 2011, Shelly Chandler, Alexander Huber's mother, filed this lawsuit against Jimenez for her son's death. Ted Huber, Alexander Huber's father, later intervened in the case as a plaintiff; Allied was granted leave to intervene as a defendant.
Chandler, Jimenez, and Allied entered an agreement in which Allied would pay $50,000 to Chandler under the Policy's bodily injury liability coverage, and $2,000 under the Policy's medical payments coverage. The parties also agreed that judgment would be entered against Jimenez in the amount of $200,000; Chandler agreed that she would only seek to satisfy the judgment from the proceeds of the Policy. Allied paid the agreed sums to Chandler in December 2011.
The parties disagreed whether the Policy afforded any additional coverage for Alexander Huber's death. Allied argued that the amounts it had already paid represented the applicable per-person bodily injury and medical payments limits of liability: $50,000 and $2,000, respectively. For her part, Chandler argued that the policy limits were three times as high as Allied contended: $150,000 for bodily injury and $6,000 for medical payments.
The parties stipulated to the relevant facts, and filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The trial court entered judgment in favor of Allied, finding that the Policy's per-person limit of liability for bodily injury was $50,000, and that the medical payments coverage was limited to $2,000. Chandler appeals.
Corrigan v. Progressive Ins. Co., 411 S.W.3d 306, 310 (Mo.App. E.D.2013) (citations omitted). Likewise, "[t]he interpretation of an insurance policy is an issue of law, subject to de novo review." Allen v. Continental W. Ins. Co., 436 S.W.3d 548, 553 (Mo. banc 2014) (citing Mendenhall v. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. of Hartford, 375 S.W.3d 90, 92 (Mo. banc 2012)).
Chandler argues that the trial court's grant of summary judgment was erroneous because the Policy provides $150,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, not $50,000, and medical payments coverage of $6,000, not $2,000. We disagree.
Corrigan, 411 S.W.3d at 311 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
The Policy insures three separate vehicles. Those vehicles are identified in a table in the Policy's Declarations, which assigns a number to each vehicle:
DESCRIPTION OF VEHICLE V Trade Body Type Identification E Year Name and Model Number H1 2001 VOLV 4 DOOR YV1RS61R112013616 4 2002 BMW 2 DOOR WBABN33402JW53786 5 1998 FORD 4 DOOR 1FAFP52S8WA196957
The Declarations state the Policy's limits of liability in a separate table, using vehicle numbers which correspond to those assigned to the three insured vehicles in the "Description of Vehicle" table:
COVERAGE AND LIMITS OF LIABILITY (In Dollars) coverage is provided where a premium or limit of liability is shown for coverage BODILY INJURY PROPERTY MEDICAL PERSONAL INJURY UNINSURED MOTORISTS UNDERINS. MOTRST V DAMAGE PAYMENTS PROTECTION (PER POLICY) (PER POLICY) E BODILY INJURY H I C EACH EACH EACH EACH EACH EACH EACH EACH L PERSON ACCIDENT ACCIDENT PERSON OPTION PERSON ACCIDENT PERSON ACCIDENT E1 50,000 100,000 50,000 2,000 50,000 100,000 50,000 100,000 4 50,000 100,000 50,000 2,000 5 50,000 100,000 50,000 2,000
The Policy states the following under the heading "LIMIT OF LIABILITY."
Chandler argues that an ordinary person would read the above Declarations and conclude that the Policy's per-person limit of liability for bodily injury is $150,000, a figure she derives by adding together the three numbers listed in the left column of the "Coverage and Limits of Liability" table. She contends that the three $50,000 limits must be aggregated because there is no language in the Declarations stating that specific liability limits apply only to a particular vehicle.
Contrary to Chandler's argument, the Policy plainly and unambiguously specifies that a $50,000 bodily injury limit applies, separately, to each of the three vehicles insured under the Policy.
The Eastern District recognized the meaning of this same Declarations page in Becker v. Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Co., 422 S.W.3d 434 (Mo.App. E.D.2013). Although the issue presented in Becker concerned underinsured motorists coverage, the Court observed that a table like the one in this case "plainly"
Id. at 437-38 (emphasis added).
We also note that the Policy's "Limit of Liability" section repeatedly refers to the "limit" of liability applicable to a particular coverage, in the singular rather than plural. It states that the "limit of liability" in the Declarations page is the "maximum limit of liability for all damages." The use of the singular to refer to the applicable limit of liability is consistent throughout the Policy as a whole, including in the insuring clause. Viewed in conjunction with the Declarations, it is clear that the Policy contemplates a single limit of liability applicable to each insured vehicle.
Other coverage provisions contained in the Declarations confirm that the "Coverage and Limits of Liability" table lists the coverage associated with particular vehicles separately. For example, the Policy provides separate coverage for "Damage to Your Vehicle." The Declarations specify deductible amounts for "Damage to Your Vehicle" coverage in the rows corresponding to only two of the three vehicles insured under the Policy: the 2001 Volvo (vehicle #1) and the 2002 BMW (vehicle #4); but not the 1998 Ford (vehicle #5). At oral argument, Chandler's counsel acknowledged that, by not listing a deductible amount for "Damage to Your Vehicle" coverage in the row corresponding to the 1998 Ford, the Declarations make clear that no such coverage is provided on the 1998 Ford.
The Declarations also contain a table explaining how the total policy premium was calculated. The "Premiums" table makes clear that separate premiums were calculated for each vehicle, for each coverage offered (bodily injury, property damage, medical payments, or "Damage to Your Vehicle"). This premium calculation once again confirms that the Policy provided separate coverage for each of the three listed vehicles, not aggregate coverage up to a combined liability limit.
Of the three vehicles insured under the Policy, only the BMW was involved in the accident at issue. The plain language of the policy indicates that the maximum per-person coverage afforded by the Policy for bodily injury associated with the BMW is $50,000.
Chandler argues that, even if the Policy is interpreted to afford separate $50,000 limits of liability for bodily injury coverage on each of the insured vehicles, rather than a single $150,000 liability limit, she should be permitted to "stack" the three separate $50,000 liability limits, and recover a total of $150,000.
Ritchie, 307 S.W.3d at 135 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
The "Limit of Liability" provision of the Policy prohibits stacking, since it specifies that "[t]he limit of liability shown in the Declarations" is Allied's "maximum limit of liability" "regardless of the number of ... vehicles ... shown in the Declarations." Chandler argues that the Policy's "Other Insurance" clause, when read in conjunction with the "Limit of Liability" provision, creates an ambiguity which must be resolved in her favor. The "Other Insurance" provision states in relevant part that "any insurance we provide for a vehicle you do not own shall be excess over any other collectible insurance." Chandler argues that the BMW was "a vehicle you do not own," because it was not owned jointly by Edna and Peter Wijnterp, the named insureds under the Policy. Therefore, according to Chandler, the coverage provided to the three separate insured vehicles under the Policy can be stacked.
Although the parties hotly contest the issue, we need not decide whether the BMW should be deemed a vehicle you do not own. "Even if the BMW is considered a non-owned vehicle, `other collectible insurance' must exist before the `Other Insurance' provision is triggered. This is consistent with the general principle that, `[b]efore stacking can be an issue, there
With respect to the BMW involved in the accident in which Alexander Huber was killed, the Allied Policy provides per-person limits of liability of $50,000 for bodily injury coverage, and of $2,000 for medical payments coverage. The circuit court correctly granted summary judgment to Allied with respect to the Policy's limits of liability. The judgment is affirmed.
All concur.