Sleiter v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co.

Appellant was one of nineteen individuals injured when a school bus was struck by an at-fault vehicle. Appellant sought excess underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage benefits from his family’s automobile policy with American Family Mutual Insurance Company because his damages exceeded the recovery available to him under the coverage of the school bus. American Family denied Appellant’s claim for excess UIM benefits, claiming that, pursuant to the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act, Appellant’s excess UIM coverage ($100,000) did not “exceed” the UIM coverage provided by the school bus’s insurance ($1,000,000). Appellant then brought this action, seeking the difference between the recovery he received and his UIM policy limits from American Family. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of American Family, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the phrase “coverage available,” as used in Minn. Stat. 65B.49(3)(a)(5), in reference to the “excess insurance protection” for an injured insured, is ambiguous; and (2) the phrase “coverage available” means the benefits actually paid to the insured under the coverage provided by the occupied vehicle’s policy. View "Sleiter v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co." on Justia Law