The state Superior Court has determined a family that initially chose not to stack insurance coverage for the cars they owned could still recover stacked insurance benefits because, when they added a new car to the policy several years later, the insurance carrier failed to obtain a waiver opting out of stacked coverage.

A split, three-judge panel ruled April 11 in Pergolese v. Standard Fire Insurance that plaintiffs John and Peggy Pergolese were entitled to $500,000 of stacked coverage. The decision upheld a ruling from the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, which had granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs in the declaratory judgment action.

Judge Kate Ford Elliott, writing for the majority, said no “after-acquired-vehicle clause” applied that would have removed the need for a new waiver.