INSURANCE COVERAGE: Superior Court upholds underinsured motorist coverage reduction by payments on tortfeasor’s policy

The plaintiff and a passenger were injured in a motor vehicle accident and the tortfeasor’s insurance paid the plaintiff and passenger for their injuries and also paid for property damage and loss of use.  The total of those payments exceeded the defendant’s policy limit.  The plaintiff’s insurer did not pay the plaintiff any underinsured motorist benefits, arguing that the setoffs from the tortfeasor’s payments exceed the coverage limits of the plaintiff’s policy.

The plaintiff brought suit against the insurer, arguing that Conn. Gen. Stat. § 38a-336(b) prohibits any such reduction of underinsured benefits.  The Court granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment, holding that § 38a-336(b) applies only to policies issured or renewed after October 2015 and the plaintiff’s policy was issued in 2014, therefore the defendant was permitted to seek a setoff in the underinsured motorist benefits for the amounts paid by the tortfeasor’s policy.  The amounts paid to the plaintiff, her passenger, and for the property damage together exceeded the policy limits.

Binnie Mae Jones v. Metro Property & Casualty Insurance Co., No. CV-17-6037121-S (07/23/2018)