holding that an insurance contract’s provision that excluded coverage to a driver’s family members was ineffective because it attempted to narrow coverage that the legislature had intended to exist
How later courts described this case
- holding that an insurance contract’s provision that excluded coverage to a driver’s family members was ineffective because it attempted to narrow coverage that the legislature had intended to exist
- holding the “family member exclusion” in an automobile liability policy was void because it contravened the liability coverage mandated by the Texas Legislature in the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act
- stating that wealth of a defendant has great potential to prejudice a jury's determination of disputed issues in a tort case
- holding insurance policy with family-member exclusion void because it conflicts with public policy underlying Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
CORNYN, Justice,
concurring and dissenting. 1
While I agree with the plurality that the family member exclusion (“exclusion”) is invalid, I differ both as to the reason why, and, thus, the degree to which, this exclusion is invalid. The legislative mandate that every automobile operator carry liability insurance cannot be contravened, and the exclusion is unenforceable for that reason. As the basis under which I find this exclusion to be invalid is a statutorily-imposed minimum limit of automobile liability insurance, it follows that the exclusion should only be held invalid up to this statutory minimum. I would, therefore, hold that an insurer’s liability is fixed at the minimum limits mandated by statute.
Because this exclusion has the effect of rendering an operator uninsured as to certain potential injured parties (i.e., family members), the plurality concludes that this exclusion violates both (1) public policy, as well as (2) the statutory requirement of minimum liability insurance. Respecting the second justification, however, honors the first as well because the legislative will as to the “public policy” in this area has been expressed by the statutorily-required minimum liability insurance requirement. 2 The source, *6 logic, and credibility of any other public policy to which the plurality ostensibly defers is questionable.
According to the plurality, the majority of jurisdictions with mandatory insurance laws have held family member exclusion clauses invalid because they are contrary to public policy. In this “majority,” however, there is very little precise explanation as to what a general holding as “against public policy” means. 3
The legislature has expressed the relevant public policy in this area, and in its judgment an operator of a motor vehicle must have liability insurance at a certain minimum level. The plurality points to no other public policy implicated. The legislature has not said that family members should receive greater coverage than other members of the public, yet by totally invalidating these exclusions and allowing recovery up to the total amount of the policy, the plurality is divining new public policy that has nothing to do with the compulsory insurance law of the state. 4 It is not for this court to evaluate the public policy implications of mandatory insurance coverage; the legislature has already done that. 5
I would, therefore, hold these exclusions invalid because they conflict with Texas’ compulsory liability insurance statute. I would declare them to be invalid only up to the minimum amount of mandated liability insurance.
. JUSTICE HIGHTOWER’S opinion is on behalf of a plurality of the court, only. Therefore, the views I express in this concurring and dissenting opinion determine the scope of the court’s judgment: As a result, the family member exclusion is invalid only to the extent it conflicts with the Texas Safety Responsibility Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. art. 6701h § 1(10) (Vernon Supp.1993), that is, to the statutorily-imposed minimum limit of automobile liability insurance imposed by the Act.
. In fact, the plurality’s opinion does not identify any other public policy behind the Texas Safety Responsibility Act, except that injured parties should be compensated by requiring operators to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance. Holding the exclusion invalid to that minimum amount, then, advances the public policy identified and guarantees that family members are not excluded from the intended benefits of our compulsory insurance statute.
. Only six of those jurisdictions specifically refuse to limit recovery to the minimum amounts required by statute. Supra 879 S.W.2d at 4 n. 10. On the other hand, at least seven jurisdictions declare such exclusions invalid only up to the statutory minimum. Supra 879 S.W.2d at 4 n. 8.
. The plurality asserts that under my analysis: "one would be unfairly restricted in family member liability coverage to no more than the statutorily required minimum amount.” Supra 879 S.W.2d at 5 n. 12. While that is true, the most important aspect of that statement is the fact that the legislature has expressed no public policy against such a result. The relevant public policy is reflected by the statutory minimum; a contract between insurer and insured to exclude coverage need only be declared invalid up to that minimum.
. The dissent argues that this court cannot void a Board-approved exclusion or limitation on coverage, even if it violates legislatively-mandated coverage requirements. Infra 879 S.W.2d at 7 (Enoch, J., dissenting). Just as the legislature may not pass a law that conflicts with the constitution, a state agency may not adopt a regulation that conflicts with legislative mandates. The question is not whether the legislature could have overridden the exclusion after Price v. Price, 732 S.W.2d 316 (Tex.1987), but whether, but for Price (and our abolition of intra-family immunily in Jilani by and through Jilani v. Jilani, 767 S.W.2d 671, 673 (Tex.1988)) it had already done so. Price and Jilani removed the barrier of immunity to the realization of the legislature’s intent that drivers be universally covered by liability insurance.