Opinion

Greene v. Great American Insurance Company

  • 516 S.W.2d 739
  • 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2938
Court
Court of Appeals of Texas
Filed
Nov 27, 1974
Status
Published
Author
Dies
On the bench
Stephenson, Dies, Keith
Cited by
15 cases

Declined to follow by Schaefer v. Unigard Security Insurance Co., 1977 Tex. App. LEXIS 3657 (1977)

holding disapproved by Texas Supreme Court in Unigard Security Ins. Co. v. Schaefer, Tex.Supr., 572 S.W.2d 303, 307-08 (1978)

How later courts described this case

  • holding disapproved by Texas Supreme Court in Unigard Security Ins. Co. v. Schaefer, Tex.Supr., 572 S.W.2d 303, 307-08 (1978)

Written by the judges who cited it.

Later courts went against this

  • Declined to follow by Schaefer v. Unigard Security Insurance Co., 1977 Tex. App. LEXIS 3657 (1977)

    We cannot agree because Greene is distinguishable by virtue of the differences in the two statutes.
    Court of Appeals of TexasNov 2, 1977Read it

The opinion

DIES, Chief Justice

(concurring).

The paramount consideration here is which view best serves public policy. It is this writer’s contention that public policy is far better served under the majority view than the dissent.

For, if the dissent should become the rule, we shall have said to this insurance company and all others, “You cannot legally except a family member (or any other person) from uninsured motorist coverage without also excepting the insured.” If we give insurance companies this option only, many insured persons in Texas will end up with no uninsured motorist coverage at all in their policies. No one will argue this is what the Legislature intended.

Of course, one can argue that the insured, as Letitia Greene, could seek insurance from the assigned risk pool. But, how many would? And, if it be one or the other, should it be the mother or the son with the bad driving record ?

Only the Legislature and the State Board of Insurance can provide a complete answer to the problems presented by this case. Until then, it is far better for us to make it possible for Letitia Greene, and those like her, to have uninsured motorist coverage on herself than in practice to require complete waiver to obtain a policy of insurance.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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