The Pennsylvania Supreme Court won’t disturb a state Superior Court ruling that an arbitration award in a motor vehicle accident case did not collaterally estop a plaintiff from seeking underinsured motorist benefits.
A unanimous three-judge panel issued a memorandum April 18 in Fernandez v. Erie Insurance Group finding that Bridget Fernandez can pursue UIM benefits above and beyond the amount assigned in arbitration because the arbitration agreement did not make clear the limit of the arbitrator’s jurisdiction. A jury must settle the jurisdictional ambiguity, the panel said in reversing the trial court’s ruling and remanding the case.
