Penn. Supreme Court Reverses Rejected Coverage Ruling

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reversed a 1999 Superior Court decision that forced an insurance company to cover a policyholder who had rejected uninsured motorist coverage.

The state Supreme Court unanimously rejected the argument made by the plaintiff in the Winslow-Quattlebaum v. Maryland Insurance Group case, that the form used to decline uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage was invalid because they did not appear alone on separate pages.

Writing for the court, Justice Nigro pointed out that Winslow-Quattlebaum specifically signed in the two designated blanks on the form, thereby rejecting both underinsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist stacking coverage. She was billed for and paid lower premiums based on the rejection of the coverage. Since the forms were valid and the coverage was waived, Maryland Insurance Group was not obligated to provide the coverage.