Seppala
Progressive Preferred Insurance v. Seppala
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Progressive Preferred Insurance Company and Progressive American Insurance Company (collectively, “Progressive”) appeal from the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Matthew and Melinda Seppala. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo the district court’s ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment, see Arakaki v. Hawaii, 314 F.3d 1091, 1094 (9th Cir.2002), and we reverse. Because the facts of this case are familiar to the parties, we recite them here only to the extent necessary to explain our decision.
The anti-stacking clause in Progressive’s insurance policies is subject to Washington law regarding the interpretation of contracts. See Quadrant Corp. v. Am. States Ins. Co., 154 Wash.2d 165 , 110 P.3d 733, 737 (2005) (en banc). The policy language should be given a “fair, reasonable, and sensible construction as would be given to the contract by the average person purchasing insurance.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). If the language is clear and unambiguous, it must be enforced as written. Id. If, on the other hand, the language is fairly susceptible to two reasonable interpretations, it is ambiguous and…