Importance of the Declarations Page

The United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit, noted the importance of the declarations page in the case of Wagenmaker v. Amica Mutual Insurance Company, 2010 WL 1078347 (C.A.1, R.I.). Note that this case was not selected for publication in the Federal Reporter.

Joyce Wagenmaker was injured when an unidentified vehicle collided with a car belonging to Vitone in which she was a passenger. Wagenmaker sought uninsured motorists benefits from Vitone's insurer, Amica Mutual. The insurer denied coverage on the grounds that Vitone's car had no uninsured motorists coverage, since Vitone had cancelled the coverage some nine months before the accident. This change in coverage was reflected in the policy's amended declarations page which clearly indicated that the car was “NOT COVERED” for damages by an uninsured driver.

Wagenmaker claimed that the declaration page meant nothing since the boilerplate terms of the policy declare that Amica will pay any damages that a passenger in a covered auto is entitled to collect from an uninsured driver. Wagenmaker was supported in her claim by Vitone who said that he wanted the general liability and collision coverages for his car deleted since he was taking the car off the road for the winter; Vitone maintained that he did not request the insurer to delete uninsured motorists coverage on the car. The insurer countered that it sent confirmation notices to Vitone summarizing all of the changes made to the auto policy, including the elimination of the car's uninsured motorists coverage. The insurer also pointed out that it sent an amended declarations page that clearly indicated the car was not covered for uninsured motorists coverage and that Vitone did not contact the insurer about this item.

The United District Court denied Wagenmaker's motion for summary judgment and an appeal was made to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

That court ruled against Wagenmaker and acknowledged the following points. First, in Rhode Island , uninsured motorists coverage is vehicle specific and not a form of personal protection. Uninsured motorists coverage follows the vehicle, not the insured, and if an insured chooses not to insure his vehicle for such coverage, he does so at his own peril and to the peril of his passengers. Second, the terms of an insurance policy include those listed on the declarations page and in fact, these terms are of paramount importance. The court held that it is the declaration page, the one page of the policy tailored to the particular insured and not the merely boilerplate policy language, that must be deemed to define coverage and the insured's expectation of coverage. In this case, the declarations page of Vitone's auto policy unambiguously stated that there was no uninsured motorists coverage for the car in which Wagenmaker rode. Therefore, Amica did not owe uninsured motorists benefits to Wagenmaker.

Editor's Note: There are two things to note about this case.

The first is the finding that uninsured motorists (UM) coverage follows the car and not the insured. The wording of the uninsured motorists coverage insuring agreement in the standard personal auto policy emphasizes coverage for injuries suffered by the insured and would seem to indicate that the insured and not the car is the main aspect of the coverage. However, one of the exclusions in the UM section of the auto policy does declare that there is no coverage for bodily injury sustained by an insured while occupying any motor vehicle owned by the insured that is not insured for UM coverage. So, the policy does contemplate that an insured would not have UM coverage if a particular car is not insured for that coverage.

The second item is the stated importance of the declarations page. This page summarizes what the insured declares to the insurer to be the facts of a particular risk, and the insurer declares what it covers and the amount of coverage. Most insureds do not read their entire policies and the same is probably true for the declarations page. However, this page does offer an informative summary of the coverages afforded to the insured, is referenced many times in the body of the insurance policy, and (as this court indicated) is uniquely tailored to the needs and wants of the insured who has purchased the policy. The dec page should not be overlooked by the insured or his insurance agent.