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THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

___________________________

Strafford

No. 2001-087

JANE A. KELLY & a.

v.

PRUDENTIAL PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY

Argued: March 13, 2002

Opinion Issued: April 19, 2002

Burns, Bryant, Hinchey, Cox & Rockefeller, P.A., of Dover (Matthew B. Cox on the brief and orally), for the plaintiffs.

McDonough & O'Shaughnessy, P.A., of Manchester (Robert G. Whaland on the brief and orally), for the defendant.

DUGGAN, J. The defendant, Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company (Prudential), appeals a Superior Court (Fauver, J.) order declaring that Prudential may not reduce uninsured motorist benefit payments to the plaintiffs, Jane and Patrick Kelly, by the amount recoverable from the uninsured tortfeasor. We affirm.

Plaintiff Jane Kelly was injured in an automobile accident. At the time of the accident, she and her husband, Patrick Kelly, carried uninsured motorist insurance issued by Prudential, with a recovery limit of $100,000. The plaintiffs settled with the tortfeasor for the liability limit of her policy, $50,000. Following that settlement, an uninsured motorist arbitration panel assessed the plaintiffs