In a previous blog post, we discussed how exactly uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) benefits can be rejected in Louisiana. While that post went through some of the legal technicalities involved in rejecting UM coverage, it did not discuss in depth some of the scenarios in which coverage might be rejected and how the court might actually rule despite those legal technicalities.
This blog post will focus on specific cases and scenarios in which, despite not following every legally prescribed requirement under Louisiana law, the court has decided that coverage was actually properly rejected or limited. Some of these examples involve just a word or two out of place, others involve completely leaving off pertinent information. But all of the below examples make it clear that the parties’ intents are more important that perfectly following the letter of the law.
The first example deals with a case involving an automobile accident. In that case, the individual driving the car involved in the accident was driving one of his employer’s vehicles. So the question was whether or not the employer’s insurance company, General Insurance Company of America (GICA), had properly produced a valid and enforceable uninsured/underinsured motorist rejection form, as required by the commissioner of insurance. Whether or not this UM rejection form had been properly completed would mean the difference between $100,000.00 and $1,000,000.00 available under the policy. GICA contended that it had filled the form out properly and that coverage should be $100,000.00, and the individual driving the car claimed the opposite and that coverage should be in the amount of $1,000,000.00.
In that case, the plaintiff argued that the form did not fulfill all requirements as specified by Louisiana statute for proper uninsured/underinsured motorist rejection. Specifically, the form that was signed had an improper title. Despite the fact that the form did not have the exact proper title, the court decided that the form was still valid and enforceable, and therefore, UM rejection was properly executed. The governing factor in the case was whether or not GICA’s intent was clear from the UM rejection form. Because the intent was clear, despite the improper title, rejection was still proper.
Another example from the Louisiana court system involved a UM rejection form that not only had the title wrong, but also had several other deviations. Despite these errors, the uninsured/underinsured motorist rejection was still deemed proper because the form was clear about the limitation of the coverage. From the form, it was obvious that the party meant to limit UM motorist coverage.
Yet another case dealt with a form that was missing the insurance company name and policy number. Both of those pieces of information are technically required by law in order for the UM rejection to be valid. However, the court in that case ruled that such omissions will not invalidate an otherwise valid form when it is clear that the intent was to reject UM coverage. The technical errors had little weight on the court’s decision because the overall intent of the parties was clearly stated in the signed document.
In a Louisiana Supreme Court case, a form did not properly contain the printed name of the legal representative of the corporate insured. However, once again, despite this technical error, the Court determined that the uninsured/underinsured motorist rejection form would not be considered invalid because of that small error because the overall intent of the parties was clear from the form.
From these examples, it is clear that the courts will not always strictly apply the stated law and that sometimes the overall intent of the parties is more important and carries more weight in determining the validity of a UM rejection form.
If you have been involved in an accident or dispute involving UM motorist coverage, contact Berniard Law Firm at (504) 521-6000 to talk to an attorney who can help you resolve the dispute.