Texas Supreme Court
Ronald Stracener v. United…
September 13, 198932 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 597
Summary
The Texas Supreme Court held that under Texas Insurance Code article 5.06‑1(2)(b) the term “payment of claims” includes the injured party’s claim for underinsured motorist benefits, making a tortfeasor underinsured whenever his liability insurance proceeds are insufficient to cover the plaintiff’s actual damages, and that the set‑off in article 5.06‑1(5) is subtracted from actual damages, not from the policy limits; it reversed the Stracener judgment, affirmed the Hestilow judgment, and remanded Stracener for further proceedings.