Northwestern Mutual Insurance v. Rhodes

CONLEY, P. J.

In this suit for declaratory relief brought by the insurance company which issued the policy in question, the insured appellant, Geraldine Rhodes, complains that she has not received full payment for her injuries under alleged applicable provisions of her insurance policy. She admittedly received physical hurt in an automobile collision which occurred on the 8th day of October 1962, between her automobile and a car driven by one Lynne La Rhette Poster. The claim made by Mrs. Rhodes against Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company arose out of the provisions of a policy of insurance which the company originally wrote on her automobile; this policy contained provisions in her favor against injury through the negligence of an uninsured motorist pursuant to the requirements of the law of the State of California (Ins. Code, § 11580.2), and also medical coverage provisions. The uninsured motorist coverage in the policy stipulated that the plaintiff would pay all sums up to $10,000 per person, which the insured would be legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured automobile because of bodily injury sustained by the insured, provided that determination as to whether such insured was legally entitled to recover such damages and the amount thereof should be decided by ‘ agreement between the insured . . . and the Company or, if they fail to agree, by arbitration.” The medical expenses coverage in the policy provided that the plaintiff should pay all reasonable expenses for medical services incurred within one year from the date of the accident up to the sum of $2,000 for each person injured in an accident while in the insured's automobile.

The basic facts in the relationship between the insurance company and the insured were stipulated to; it is conceded that Mrs. Rhodes paid a premium for the uninsured motorist coverage and, also, for the medical pay coverage. As the insurer

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and the insured did not agree upon the amount that should be paid by the company under the uninsured motorist coverage, the matter was heard by Robert E. Bradstreet, a duly appointed arbitrator, on October 24, 1963, “. . . in accordance with the Uninsured Motorist provisions of said policy and in accordance with California Insurance Code § 11580.2.” Thereafter, the arbitrator made an award in favor of Geraldine Rhodes and against the Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company in the sum of $5,965.62, plus $53 costs. The document specifying the award, dated and signed by the arbitrator on November 22, 1963, contains the statement: “This Award is in full settlement of all claims submitted to this Arbitration.”