DocketNumber: No. CV-96-0557752-S
Citation Numbers: 1999 Conn. Super. Ct. 10130, 25 Conn. L. Rptr. 143
Judges: LAVINE, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 7/13/1999
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
A brief overview of the relevant facts is required to place this ruling in context.
On July 1, 1993, the General Assembly passed No. 93-297 of the 1993 Public Acts. Section 1(d) of the act abolished the doctrine of stacking.2 The act contains an effective date provision which, as to § 1(d), provides in relevant part that: "This act shall take effect from its passage, except that sections 1 to 24, inclusive, and section 28 shall take effect January 1, 1994, and sections 1, 2 and 5 to 24, inclusive, shall be applicable to acts or omissions occurring on or after January 1, 1994." P.A. 93-297, § 29.
On August 21, 1993, the plaintiffs policy of insurance was issued. This policy provided the plaintiff with $50,000 of uninsured motorist coverage. On September 23, 1993, the plaintiffs parents' policy of insurance was issued. The parents' policy provided them with $100,000 of uninsured motorist coverage on each of two vehicles. The accident upon which this action is based occurred on February 2, 1994. Thus, both the plaintiffs and her parents' insurance policies were issued prior to the January 1, 1994 effective date of P.A. 93-297, § 1 (d). However, as noted, the accident occurred after that date. CT Page 10132
The plaintiff argues that because the policies in question were issued prior to January 1, 1994, she is entitled to stack the policy limits in calculating her available coverage. This would entitle her to $250,000 in coverage.3 The defendant asserts, in contrast, that P.A. 93-297, § 1(d), applies in this case because the underlying accident occurred after the act's January 1, 1994 effective date. If the act applies, then the plaintiff would only be entitled to coverage of $50,000, considerably less than the $150,000 verdict.
The legal issue before the court, therefore, is whether the stacking prohibition contained in P.A. 93-297 applies to the accident in the instant case. This involves a determination of the legislature's intent. Accordingly, the starting point must be an examination of the wording of the effective date provision.
The effective date provision, P.A. 93-297, § 29, indicates that the stacking prohibition is applicable to "acts or omissions" occurring on or after January 1, 1994. These words are clear and unambiguous and should be construed according to commonly approved usage. General Statutes Section
The plaintiff asserts that this phrase is ambiguous, since it could refer either to accidents occurring on or after said date or to policies issued or renewed on or after said date. In support of her position, the plaintiff cites two Superior Court cases which hold that P.A. 93-297, § 29, is unclear, Wozniakv. Keystone Insurance Co., Superior Court, judicial district of New Haven at New Haven, Docket No. 376435 (May 14, 1997,Fracasse, J.) (
As in the present case, Wozniak involved the applicability of the stacking prohibition where the policy was issued prior to CT Page 10133 January 1, 1994 and the accident occurred after January 1, 1994. The court began its analysis by noting: "[The Supreme Court] consistently [has] expressed reluctance to construe statutes retroactively where the statutes affect substantial changes in the law, unless the legislative intent clearly and unequivocally appears otherwise. . . . (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Gil v. Courthouse One,
However, subsequent to the issuance of the above-cited Superior Court decisions, the Appellate Court released its opinion in Amica Mutual Ins. Co. v. Woods,
The court in Amica Mutual concluded that P.A. 93-297 did extinguish the insurer s right to reimbursement. The Appellate CT Page 10134 Court proceeded under the assumption that P.A. 93 297, by its terms, was applicable to any accidents occurring on or after January 1, 1994, and focused instead on the possibility that the act could not apply retroactively to extinguish the insurer's rights as a matter of law regardless of the language of § 29. See Amica Mutual Ins. Co. v. Woods, supra,
The plaintiff asserts that Amica Mutual is distinguishable from the present case in several respects. First, the plaintiff notes that the right involved in Amica Mutual is different from the right involved in the present case. More significantly, the plaintiff argues that the court in Amica Mutual did not rely so much on the timing of the accident as the fact that the insurer did not make payment under the basic reparations provision of the policy until after January 1, 1994. See id., 695. The plaintiff contends that in Amica Mutual, the insurer s right to reimbursement vested upon the payment of basic reparations benefits. Similarly, the plaintiff argues that in the present case, her right to stack policy limits vested when she paid premiums under her insurance policy, and since she paid premiums prior to January 1, 1994, P.A. 93-297 does not extinguish this vested right.
However, irrespective of when the plaintiff paid premiums under the policy, there was no pending claim in this case until the accident occurred on February 2, 1994. The Appellate Court inAmica Mutual made it clear that there is a significant distinction between the existence of a valid contract of CT Page 10135 insurance and the existence of a pending claim thereunder. Although the plaintiff paid premiums and the policy was issued prior to January 1, 1994, in light of the Appellate Court's ruling in Amica Mutual, the mere existence of the policy did not create a pending claim between the parties or a vested right to stack in regard to an accident which had yet to occur. Although the plaintiff is correct in her assertion that factual distinctions exist, these distinctions are not of sufficient legal significance to take this case outside the scope of theAmica Mutual decision.
This court concludes, therefore, that Amica Mutual controls the disposition of the disputed issue in this case and that this court is compelled to apply its teaching.4 Accordingly, the plaintiffs right to stack the limits of the two operative policies was extinguished on January 1, 1994, prior to the occurrence of the accident. Therefore, the plaintiff is entitled to $50,000 in coverage, representing the limit of her policy.
Douglas S. Lavine Judge, Superior Court