Jackson v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., [Ms. SC-2024-0588, June 20, 2025] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. 2025). The Court (Shaw, J.; Stewart, C.J., and Bryan, Mendheim, and McCool, JJ., concur) affirms the Madison Circuit Court’s judgment on the pleadings in favor of State Farm based on provision of Kentucky policy imposing a two-year limitations period for assertion of a claim for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits.
Eric Jackson, a Kentucky resident insured under Kentucky-issued State Farm policies, was injured in an accident in Madison County Alabama in December 2020 but did not sue State Farm until October 2023. The policy included a Kentucky choice of law provision and expressly incorporated Kentucky’s Motor Vehicle Reparations Act’s (KMVRA) two-year deadline for filing claims for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident. Ms. **3-4.
Jackson argues Alabama’s six-year statute of limitations should apply and that the contractual adoption of a shorter period violated § 6-2-15, Ala. Code 1975 which provides “any agreement or stipulation, verbal or written, whereby the time for the commencement of any action is limited to a time less than that prescribed by law for the commencement of such action is void.”
The Court rejects this argument because the policy unambiguously incorporated Kentucky procedural law – including the KMVRA limitations period – and the contract of insurance was formed and delivered in Kentucky. Ms. **13-16. The Court holds the policy was “not an attempt to modify Alabama’s statutes of limitations but, instead, to explicitly incorporate procedural elements consistent with the forum of the contract.” Ms. *17.