Government Employees Insurance Company v. Poole

JUSTICE HEARN :

*285 **3 We accepted a certified question from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, asking whether South Carolina law requires that punitive damages be apportioned pro rata between those sustained for bodily injury and property damage, respectively, under an automobile insurance policy. We answer the question, "No."

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Jack Poole and his wife, Jennifer, were riding in a vehicle owned by Doris Knight, Jennifer's mother, when a drunk driver crossed the center line and struck them. The Pooles were both seriously injured in the collision;…