Gallagher v. GEICO Household Exclusion Case Extended by Another Eastern Federal District Court Decision

In a new Federal Eastern District Court decision in  Smith v. Nationwide, No. 19-1217 (E.D. Pa. June 24, 2019 Baylson, J.), concerning the application of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Gallagher v. GEICO finding the Household Exclusion in UM/UIM policies to be invalid, the court denied a 12(b)(6) motion and held that that Gallagher is applicable even in situations where the Host and Household Vehicles are insured by different companies, where the Household Policy contains a stacking provision.

This represents an extension of the Gallagher v. GEICO decision as that decision involved policies from the same carrier on all of the vehicles involved.

Anyone wishing to review this decision may click this LINK.

I send thanks to Attorney Scott Cooper of the Harrisburg, PA law firm of Schmidt Kramer for bringing this case to my attention.

Note that you can join Attorney Cooper and myself for a Webinar on the Gallagher v. GEICO decision on July 8^th at Noon.  Here is a LINK to the Tort Talk post with the Registration information for that CLE Webinar.