State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Defendant Below, Appellant v. Aneita Patterson, Plaintiff Below…

Summary

The Court affirmed the judgment awarding Patterson uninsured motorist benefits under her Delaware policy. Applying Delaware's most-significant-relationship choice-of-law framework, it held that Delaware law governed whether Patterson was legally entitled to recover damages because her residence, insurer, policy, and the consequences of her injuries were centered in Delaware, despite the New Jersey accident. The Court also held that the applicable limitations period was three years under contract law and that Patterson's action was timely. Steele, Chief Justice, and Jacobs, Justice, dissenting, would have applied New Jersey tort law and remanded for a determination whether Patterson's injuries met New Jersey's verbal threshold.