[Download] "Morelock v. Millers Mutual Ins." by Supreme Court of Illinois " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Morelock v. Millers Mutual Ins.
- Author : Supreme Court of Illinois
- Release Date : January 30, 1971
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 67 KB
Description
The plaintiff, Kathryn F. Morelock, brought an action for declaratory judgment in the circuit court of Madison County in which
she asked the court to declare that the defendant, Millers' Mutual Insurance Association of Illinois, was liable to her under
the uninsured motorist provision of an automobile liability policy which had been issued to her by the defendant. The circuit
court held that the defendant was not liable because of an "other insurance" clause which appeared in the uninsured motorist
provision of the policy. On appeal the Appellate Court for the Fifth District held that the "other insurance" clause was contrary
to the legislative intention underlying section 143a of the Illinois Insurance Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1969, ch. 73, par. 755a(1),
which requires that automobile liability policies issued in this State contain provisions for insurance against specified
damages sustained through the operation of uninsured motor vehicles. The relevant facts were stipulated to by the parties in the circuit court. On August 14, 1965, the plaintiff was driving
an automobile owned by her father, Claude Wedel, in an easterly direction on Interstate Highway No. 70, south of Madison,
Illinois. The other occupants of the automobile were the plaintiff's sister, Phyllis Wedel, her parents, Claude and Ruth Wedel,
and another couple. There was a head-on collision between the Wedel automobile and the uninsured automobile of Alfred M. Holley,
who drove in a westerly direction in a lane for east-bound traffic. All of the occupants of the Wedel automobile were injured.
Phyllis Wedel and the plaintiff were severely and permanently injured and each suffered damages in excess of $20,000. Each
is legally entitled to recover such damages from Holley, the operator of the uninsured automobile. The plaintiff is the named
insured in a policy issued by the defendant, and her father, Claude Wedel, is the named insured in another policy issued by
the defendant. The policies are identical in coverage. Each policy limits the liability of the defendant under the uninsured
motorist coverage to $20,000 for each occurrence. At the time of the proceeding in the circuit court the defendant had paid
$5,525.83 under the policy it had issued to Claude Wedel and the court was informed that the remaining $14,474.17 of the $20,000
limit was available to be divided between Phyllis Wedel and the plaintiff. It was stipulated that the plaintiff's damages
alone are in excess of the $14,474.17 which is undisbursed.