By Al Haverkamp of Lucas & Haverkamp
1Question: This quiz involves uninsured motorist coverage. Fran McGreehan, while driving in the course of employment, was struck by a car driven by an uninsured motorist and suffered injuries. McGreehan filed a workers’ comp (“WC”) claim and received $29k in benefits. McGreehan also pursued a recovery under his employer’s uninsured motorist coverage, which was provided by CSAA insurance. The CSAA policy had a $30k limit for uninsured motorist coverage. The CSAA policy also stated that “any amounts payable will be reduced because of WC payments.” McGreehan contended his total damages were $75k and when subtracting the $29k in WC benefits, he was still entitled to the $30k uninsured motorist limit. CSAA took the position the $29k in WC benefits must be subtracted from the $30k limit, leaving only $1k available for Mc Greehan. To what extent is there coverage??
Answer: Only $1k is recoverable by McGreehan. The court ruled the WC offset clause unambiguously applied to the total limits available under the policy and not to the actual damages caused by the accident. See McGreehan v CSAA (1991) 235 Cal. App. 3rd 997.