Personal Injury
Auto Personal Injury: UIM ‘Not owned, but insured’ provision determined to be against public policy
Recently, the Nebraska Supreme Court found a provision commonly included by insurance carriers in policies providing underinsured motorist coverage to be void as against public policy. The Court decided in Kline v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 277 Neb. 874 (2009) that insurance policy provisions denying coverage where a person is injured in a vehicle not owned by that person but still covered by an underinsured motorist policy to be void as against public policy. The Court made multiple references to the Nebraska Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Insurance Coverage Act (UUMICA), repeatedly pointing out the Legislature’s intent to protect injured persons form uninsured and underinsured drivers. This is a good victory for anyone who has been injured in an auto accident in Nebraska by an underinsured or uninsured driver and is dealing with a personal injury claim.