Groundbreaking Pennsylvania Law May Provide Additional Insurance Coverage to You or a Loved One Who Was Injured in a Motorcycle Accident

In Pennsylvania, your insurance carrier is required to offer you stacked UM/UIM coverage. What this means is, if you have multiple vehicles, you have an opportunity to “stack” the UM/UIM coverage together on those vehicles. For example, if you own and insure four (4) vehicles with $100,000 UM/UIM coverage on each vehicle, you can add that coverage together for a total of $400,000 in UM/UIM coverage if you opt to “stack” the vehicles.

Stacked coverage usually means a higher insurance premium for you to pay (but it is worth it). However, if you do not wish to “stack” the coverage on your vehicles, your insurance company must obtain a valid signed waiver rejecting stacked benefits.

Pennsylvania law made a drastic change regarding UM/UIM law in motorcycle accidents with the 2019 case Gallagher v. Geico Indem. Co. Mr. Gallagher was riding on his motorcycle when he was struck by another driver and sustained serious injuries. Mr. Gallagher settled with the other driver’s insurance carrier for the policy limits. He also had two insurance policies through Geico: one for his motorcycle that included $50,000 in UIM coverage and another for his two automobiles with $100,000 in UIM coverage for each vehicle. Mr. Gallagher opted to stack UIM on both policies. Geico paid the $50,000 policy limit on the motorcycle policy, but refused to pay Mr. Gallagher the UIM coverage on the automobile policy arguing that there was a “household exclusion” in the automobile policy that precluded Mr. Gallagher from receiving any UIM coverage under the automobile policy. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court disagreed, and held that the household exclusion was invalid as it violates the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, and therefore Mr. Gallagher was entitled to the additional $200,000 in UIM coverage under his automobile policy with Geico.

In August of 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court took stacking of UM/UIM coverage even further in the Donovan v. State Farm Case. Mr. Donovan suffered serious injuries while operating his motorcycle. The person at fault was underinsured, and he received their policy limits. He then received an additional $50,000 for UIM coverage under his motorcycle policy with State Farm. Mr. Donovan then sought additional UIM coverage under his mother’s policy since he was a resident relative. Mrs. Donovan had three vehicles with $100,000 in UIM coverage on each vehicle, however, she signed a waiver rejecting stacking of the UIM coverage.

The Donovans argued that the waiver signed by Mrs. Donovan waived stacking of the three vehicles on the automobile policy only (intra-policy stacking), but not stacking between the motorcycle policy and the automobile policy (inter-policy stacking). The PA Supreme Court agreed with the Donovans. The PA Supreme Court further held that the household exclusion language was also invalid this case. Therefore, Mr. Donovan was entitled to an additional $100,000 in UIM coverage under his mother’s automobile policy.