Marcus's Pickup, His Parents' Policy, and Virginia UIM

No.

Marcus is an insured on his parents' policy - he is a resident relative, and that status makes him an insured for liability and UM/UIM purposes. But status alone does not create coverage; he must also be occupying a covered auto at the time of the loss.

Walk the definition:

• Listed autos: the parents' two vehicles. His pickup is not among them.
• Newly acquired auto: does not apply; the truck has been owned and separately insured for some time.
• Temporary substitute: does not apply; his own truck is not in the shop.
• Non-owned auto: this is the trap. A non-owned auto means a private passenger auto, pickup or van not owned by or furnished for the regular use of the named insured or a family member. Marcus owns the truck, so it is not a non-owned auto.
• Owned-but-not-insured exclusion: even if the definition were stretched, the policy excludes vehicles owned by a family member but not insured under the policy.

Result: the parents' 250/500/100 limits never come into play. Marcus's own policy is the only one that responds, and it is the only one that should. Attempting to stack the parents' higher limits onto an auto that was deliberately insured elsewhere is exactly what the owned-but-not-insured exclusion exists to prevent.

Step 1 - Tortfeasor's liability payment. The at-fault driver has 25/50/25, so the per-person limit is $25,000. Marcus's damages are $120,000, so the tortfeasor's carrier tenders its per-person limit: $25,000.

Step 2 - Marcus's UIM. Virginia's UIM coverage is a limits-offset coverage: the UIM carrier's obligation is reduced by amounts recovered from the underinsured motorist and can never exceed the UIM limit.

Two ways to compute the cap, and the lower one governs:

• Damages remaining: $120,000 − $25,000 = $95,000
• Limits remaining: $100,000 UIM per-person − $25,000 from the tortfeasor = $75,000

UIM pays the lesser: $75,000.

Total recovery: $100,000 ($25,000 tortfeasor + $75,000 UIM). Uncompensated: $20,000.

The insured is never made whole under this structure - he is capped at his own UIM limit. The lesson is that buying UIM at the same level as his liability limit means his own coverage runs out before his damages do.

Passenger's recovery. She is not an insured on her own policy for this loss because she was not in a covered auto of her own; her own UM/UIM is excess at best. She steps into Marcus's shoes:

• Tortfeasor's liability: per-person limit $25,000. Note the per-accident limit is $50,000, and $25,000 for Marcus + $25,000 for her exactly exhausts it - the rest of the passenger's claim cannot come from the tortfeasor.
• Marcus's UIM: she is an insured for UM/UIM as a person occupying a covered auto. Her UIM math: damages remaining $60,000 − $25,000 = $35,000; limits remaining $100,000 − $25,000 = $75,000. UIM pays $35,000.
• Total: $60,000 - fully compensated. Marcus's UIM limit was adequate for her even though it was inadequate for him.
• Parents' PAP: no response. She was occupying Marcus's pickup, which is not a covered auto on that policy.

If Marcus were 20% at fault. Virginia is a pure contributory negligence jurisdiction. Any negligence by the claimant that proximately contributes to the injury bars recovery entirely - there is no 80/20 reduction. Marcus would collect $0 from the tortfeasor. And because UIM requires the insured to be legally entitled to recover from the underinsured motorist, his UIM claim would fail for the same reason, leaving him with $0 total. The passenger's claim is unaffected as long as she was not negligent; Marcus's negligence is not imputed to her.