Keystone Aerial Surveys, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association

Summary

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that each of the five surviving family members asserting claims arising from Thomas Campbell's death could qualify as a separate claimant under the Pennsylvania Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association Act. The court concluded that claimant status depends on whether the individual claim arises out of and falls within the coverage of the insolvent insurer's policy, rather than solely on whether the applicable wrongful-death law treats the claim as direct or derivative. The court affirmed the Superior Court's reversal of summary judgment for the guaranty association.

Holdings

1. Each of the five surviving Campbells is a proper claimant under the PPCIGA Act, provided that the individual's claim arises out of and falls within the coverage provided by the American Eagle policy.
2. The manner in which a wrongful-death action is processed, including whether the applicable law treats beneficiaries as direct or derivative claimants, does not by itself determine claimant status under the PPCIGA Act.
3. Whether each Campbell's claim is a covered claim depends on interpreting the American Eagle policy to determine whether the policy would have required the insolvent insurer to fund the individual harm asserted.

Questions Presented

1. Whether each of the five surviving members of Campbell's family was a separate claimant under the Pennsylvania Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association Act's $300,000-per-claimant limitation.
2. Whether claimant status under the PPCIGA Act depends on the existence of an independent direct cause of action under applicable wrongful-death law.
3. Whether the scope of the American Eagle insurance policy, rather than the forum or procedural form of the wrongful-death action, governs whether the individual claims are covered claims under the Act.

Disposition

affirmed