West Bend Mutual v. KeatonWest Bend Mutual v. Keaton
OPINION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellant-Defendant, West Bend Mutual Insurance Company (West Bend) appeals the trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of Appellee-Plaintiff, Roger Keaton (Keaton).
We affirm.
ISSUE
The issue presented is whether the trial court correctly determined that West Bend's Business Auto Coverage policy is an automobile or motor vehicle liability policy subject to the requirements of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage under
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Keaton lived in Illinois, but was a рartner with Robert Stambolic in Traveler's Plaza Truck Stop located in Remington, Indiana. On September 4, 1997, the partnership purchased, through an independent insurance agent in Illinois, an Indiana commercial insurance policy from West Bend that included coverage for business auto liability, commercial property, commercial crime, general liability and inland marine (the "Policy"). The named insureds under the Policy were: "R & R Partners d/b/a/ Traveler's Plaza Truck Stop, Roger Keaton & Robert Stambolic as partners." 1 The business auto сoverage provided lability coverage in a combined single limit of $1,000,000.00 for certain covered autos defined as:
8 = HIRED "AUTOS" ONLY. Only those "autos" you lease, hire, rent or borrow. This does not include any "auto" you lease, hire, rent, or borrow from any of your employees or partners or members of their households.
9 = NONOWNED "AUTOS" ONLY. Only those "autos" you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow that are used in connection with your business. This includes "autos" owned by your employees or partners or members of their households but only while used in your business or your personal affairs.
West Bend did not offer, nor did Keaton either seek or reject, uninsured motorist coverage.
Keaton was the sole proprietor of another business known as Howard Ridge Shell, a gas station located in Evanston, Illinois. On June 5, 1997, Howard Ridge Shell, by Keaton as its owner, leased a 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera automobile for personal, family and household use from Semersky Enterprises in Highland Park, Illinois. The Porsche was registered and garaged in Illinois, and covered by an Illinois insurance policy issued by State Farm Insurance.
On March 28, 1998, Keaton leased, in his own name, a 1998 Toyota 4Runner automobile from an Illinois dealership. Like the Porsche, the Toyota was registered, and insured by State Farm Insurance, in Illinois. Keaton then provided the Toyota to Michael Duffy for his use as a manager for RMK Enterprises. Duffy garaged the Toyota at his residence in Remington, Indiana, until January, 1999.
On June 3, 1998, Keaton was driving the Porsche on a business trip in St. Joseph
On May 10, 1999, Keaton filed a complaint for damages against West Bend, alleging that he was injured in a motor vehicle collision with an uninsured driver, that Keaton was insured by West Bend, and that Keaton was entitled to recover from West Bend all damages he could legally recover from the uninsured driver. West Bend denied that Keaton was entitled to recover uninsured motorists benefits under its Policy. The matter was briefed and argued on summary judgment. On January 24, 2001, the trial court entered judgment in favor of Keaton with an Order, which states in pertinent part:
1. Defendant West Bend Mutual Insurance Company insured plaintiff under a commercial package insurance policy (pоlicy number CPD 0263287 00), which was issued to plaintiff with respect to a motor vehicle principally garaged in Indiana;
2. Under Ind.Code 27-7-5-2, defendant had to make available to plaintiff uninsured motorist coverage as part of its commercial package insurance policy;
3. Said insurance policy was in effect at the time of plaintiffs accident with an uninsured motorist on June 3, 1998;
4. Said insurance policy contained a statutorily imposed uninsured motorist coverage provision in the amount of $1,000,000.00, from which plaintiff is entitled to funds for damages sustained in his automobile accident of June 3, 1998.
(Appellant's Appendix at 3.) On appeal, West Bend contests the trial court's finding that the Policy was issued with respect to a motor vehicle principally garaged in Indiana, thereby triggering the requirements of
DISCUSSION AND DECISION
In Indiana, an automobile liability policy issued with respect to any motor vehicle registered or prinсipally garaged in Indiana shall include uninsured motorist benefits, unless such benefit is expressly rejected, in writing, by the insured.
The interpretation of an insurance contract, where the facts are undisputed, is appropriately resolved by summary judgment. Burkett v. American Family Insurance Group,
While insurers are free to limit the coverage of their policies, such limitations are enforсeable only if clearly expressed. Delaplane v. Francis, 636
Resolution of this dispute requires us to construe the intent of Indiana's uninsured motorist statute in the context of the Policy's contractuаl language. Certain principles of statutory construction guide our analysis. First, we note that Indiana holds to the majority view that because the uninsured motorist statute is remedial in nature, we must liberally construe the statute in favor of the insured. Capps v. Klebs,
In United National Insurance Co. v. DePrizio,
[what is dispositive is whether the policy provides coverage for loss resulting from liability to third parties for bodily injury, death or property damage arising from the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle. We see nothing in the statute suggesting that a policy which provides such coverage should escape the reach of the statute merely because it depends on a primary policy or covers additional types of liability.
Id. at 459. The DePrizio court relied, in part, on the remedial objective of the statute: to provide financially responsible victims with compensation for injuries suffered through the wrongful conduct of irresponsible motorists. Id.
Here, the undisputed facts are that Keaton was an insured under the Policy, and the Policy provided automobile liability coverage for any automobile leased by Keaton, regardless of where it was registered or garaged. Considering that Keaton рurchased an Indiana policy for his Indiana business, there was every reason to anticipate coverage of an Indiana vehicle. Indeed, one such leased vehicle was garaged in Indiana for a period of time. The fact that Keaton chose to lease in Illinois did not negate the Policy's potential coverage. West Bend's analysis presupposes that Keaton, and the other insureds under the Policy, never intеnded to lease or garage an Indiana automobile, and that West Bend wrote the Policy with that intention in mind. There is no evidence to support such a limitation, nor can one be inferred from the undisputed facts. Likewise, it dоes not matter that there is no Indiana automobile listed under the Policy, as West Bend argues, because there is no requirement that covered automobiles be listed.
Our analysis is supported by a recent decision from thе Florida Court of Appeals that is almost directly on point: Hartford Insurance Company of Ilinois v. Levy,
Because Keaton was an insured under the Policy, and because the Policy provided automobile liability coverage for any automobile leased by Keaton, West Bend was required tо offer uninsured motorist coverage as part of the Policy. See Id. Thus, we conclude that the trial court properly granted Keaton's Motion for Summary Judgment.
Affirmed.
Notes
. The named insureds under the Policy were amended by endorsement effective April 9, 1998 to RMK Enterprises of Illinois, Inc. d/b/a Traveler's Plaza Truck Stop.