(Download) "Wilkinson v. Safeco Insurance Co. of Illinois" by State of Wisconsin in Court of Appeals District I # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Wilkinson v. Safeco Insurance Co. of Illinois
- Author : State of Wisconsin in Court of Appeals District I
- Release Date : January 23, 2005
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 69 KB
Description
1 Marc Wilkinson, by his guardian ad litem, appeals the grant of summary judgment to Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois (Safeco) in his declaratory judgment action seeking underinsured motorist benefits (UIM) from his parents Safeco automobile liability insurance policy for injuries he received in an accident in which his grandmother was driving her car. Wilkinson argues that the trial court erred: (1) in determining that the doctrine of issue preclusion bars him from now questioning whether his grandmothers car was an underinsured motor vehicle under his parents Safeco insurance policy; and (2) in declaring that under his parents policys definition of underinsured motor vehicle, his grandmothers automobile was not an underinsured motor vehicle. We have chosen to address the merits of his argument because it resolves the matter. This case is controlled by the holding in the recent case of Praefke v. Sentry Ins. Co., 2005 WI App 50, 279 Wis. 2d 325, 694 N.W.2d 442. Praefke instructs that, when multiple claims against a tortfeasors insurance policy have reduced the amount an injured party receives from the tortfeasors insurance below the amount of the injured partys UIM insurance, in determining whether a car qualifies as an underinsured motor vehicle, the correct comparison is to compare the limits of liability of the two policies. Id., 8-10. The Wilkinsons automobile insurance policy defines an underinsured motor vehicle as one that has policy "limits ... less than the limits of liability for this coverage." Since Marcs grandmothers policy limits were identical to those of the Safeco policy, the policy limits were not less than those found in his parents policy, and Marcs grandmothers automobile was not an underinsured motor vehicle. Thus, we affirm.
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