Dayhoff v. State Farm Fire and Casualty, Co.
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IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN AND FOR KENT COUNTY HOPE DAYHOFF, Plaintiff, v. STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Defendant. ) ) C.A. No. K11C-07-012 JTV ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Submitted: August 19, 2014 Decided: October 1, 2014 Keith E. Donovan, Morris James LLP, Dover, Delaware. Attorney for Plaintiff. Brian T. McNelis, Esq., Young & McNelis, Dover, Delaware. Attorney for Defendant. Upon Consideration of the Plaintiff s Motion to Modify Judgment GRANTED VAUGHN, President Judge Dayhoff v. State Farm C.A. No. K11C-07-012 October 1, 2014 ORDER Upon consideration of the plaintiff s Motion to Modify Judgment, the defendant s opposition thereto, and the record of this case, it appears that: 1. This motion relates to an uninsured motorist claim that the plaintiff filed against her insurance company, defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty, for injuries that she sustained in a July 19, 2009 motor vehicle accident. Liability for some amount of damages was undisputed. A jury was asked to determine damages. On November 14, 2013, the jury awarded the plaintiff $125,000. 2. On December 12, 2013, the plaintiff filed a Motion to Modify Judgment. In her motion, the plaintiff requests that the $125,000 judgment be reduced to $100,000, which she contends is the applicable limit in the insurance policy issued to her by the defendant. 3. The defendant does not oppose the plaintiff s Motion to Modify Judgment, but opposes the modification amount. The defendant contends that the policy limit for UM/UIM coverage was $50,000 per person and, therefore, requests that the judgment be modified to $50,000. 4. Both parties have documentation which supports their respective positions. The plaintiff has a sworn certificate issued by State Farm dated March 26, 2012, during this litigation, which certifies that the plaintiff had uninsured motorist coverage of $100,000. Attached to the certificate is a copy of a declarations page for the policy period showing uninsured motorist coverage of $100,000. The defendant contends that this certificate and the declarations page were issued in error. It has a State Farm form, filled in by hand and bearing the signature of Allan Dayhoff, the 2 Dayhoff v. State Farm C.A. No. K11C-07-012 October 1, 2014 plaintiff s late husband, dated March 25, 2009, which makes a selection of uninsured motorist coverage of $50,000. The policy period involved is the period from March 20, 2009 to September 20, 2009. The defendant also has produced a policy master record which indicates that the policy was U 50/100/10, thus also supporting the defendant s contention. The defendant has also produced an email dated July 1, 2014, which begins [t]his is from underwriting. The changes were effective 3-2509. It shows the premium for $100,000 of coverage and the premium for $50,000 of coverage, and shows a credit for the difference. The defendant s Form 30 interrogatory answers also state $50,000. The plaintiff, however, has also produced her bank records which show that the plaintiff paid premiums to State Farm on a monthly basis during the policy period in question totaling $1,032.17. The plaintiff had two separate policies, one on her auto and one on her home. From the plaintiff s submission, it seems clear that the premium paid on the homeowners policy during the policy period in question was $219 ($36.5 per month X 6 months). The remainder of the above-mentioned $1,032.17 must be attributable to the auto policy. Thus it appears that the plaintiff actually paid $813.17 of auto policy premiums. Both parties agree that the premium on $100,000 of uninsured motorist coverage was $815.59, and the premium on $50,000 of coverage was $648.01. Thus the amount paid was within $2.42 of the premium for $100,000 of coverage. While the email from the defendant dated July 1, 2014 shows a credit of $167.58, which is the difference between the premiums for $100,000 and $50,000, why the premium was not adjusted during the 03/20/09 to 09/20/09 policy period or how the credit was actually transferred to the plaintiff are not explained. 3 Dayhoff v. State Farm C.A. No. K11C-07-012 October 1, 2014 5. Since it appears that the plaintiff actually paid a premium substantially equivalent to coverage of $100,000, my ruling is that the plaintiff s Motion to Modify the Judgment to $100,000 is granted. The defendant s contention that it should be $50,000 is rejected. IT IS SO ORDERED. /s/ James T. Vaughn, Jr. President Judge cc: Prothonotary Order Distribution File 4
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