778 So. 2d 1155 - Schaefer v. Allstate Insurance’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Implicit in the legislature’s direction to insurers to design a form, was the responsibility to design a form that would fairly effectuate the intent of the law. The legislature did not mandate that the form be designed in any particular way, nor did it indicate that any particular language was sacrosanct. The legislature had to have anticipated that [Rvarious insurers might go about the design of the necessary form in different ways. Moreover, as in any case where the same type of document is drafted separately by multiple authors, it is to be expected that some forms will be better than others. Had the legislature believed that only one format was acceptable or that only certain words or phrases could be used, it would have included the required format in the statute. [[Image here]] In Tugwell v. State Farm Ins. Co., 609 So.2d 195 (La.1992), we held that a rejection form used by an insurance company must inform the applicant of the available options regarding UM coverage so that the applicant can make a meaningful selection from among the options provided by the statute [[Image here]] In Tugwell , we noted that the task of informing the applicant of available options can be accomplished in several ways. It is not the job of the courts to draft insurance forms or to dictate the exact format or wording which must be used for a valid rejection of the mandated UM coverage. The legislature specifically left that task to the insurers.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 842 So. 2d 1111 - Burns v. Hetler

2. “The plaintiffs challenge the waiver executed by Matta’s, arguing that it does not meet the legal requirements for a valid waiver because it is ambiguous and failed to provide Matta’s with sufficient information to make an informed decision on whether to accept or reject UM coverage. The defect in the Pacto policy, the plaintiffs claim, is that it neglects to inform Matta’s clearly that UM coverage will be provided by operation of law unless rejected or that Matta’s is entitled to full UM coverage. Thus, argue the plaintiffs, Pacto’s UM rejection “creates the illusion” that the insured has only two options instead of the three options imposed by Tugwell . We disagree.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 842 So. 2d 1111 - Burns v. Hetler

3. “Case law has held that the insurance carrier only has a duty to provide a form that is unambiguous and gives the insurer a distinct opportunity to make a meaningful decision.... Ms. Schaefer had three clear-cut options for selecting automobile liability coverage and she freely chose the third option rejecting UM coverage.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 842 So. 2d 1111 - Burns v. Hetler