DocketNumber: No. 0127362
Citation Numbers: 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 5252-JJJ
Judges: FASANO, J.
Filed Date: 8/1/1996
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Defendant directs the court to Part VI, pg. 23, of the policy in question, relating to Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage under the sub-title If There Is Other Insurance, which includes the following language: "However, if the insured person was in, on, or getting into or out of a vehicle owned by that person which is insured for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, the only uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage available to the insured person will be that of the occupied vehicle." There is no dispute that the plaintiff was operating a vehicle owned by her and insured for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Defendant argues further that our Supreme Court has recognized such a provision as consistent with regulations issued by the insurance commissioner and not violative of public policy, citing Middlesex Insurance Companyv. Quinn,
The issue in Middlesex concerned the validity of an insurer's exclusion from underinsured motorist coverage of a resident family member who owns his own car. In that case, however, the resident family member was clearly and unambiguously not an "insured" under the language of the policy. MiddlesexIns. Co. v. Quinn, supra,
In the case at bar there seems little dispute that the plaintiff was an "insured" under the policy of her father. As noted by plaintiff in its brief, definitions of "insured person" in both the liability and underinsured sections of the policy CT Page 5252-LLL could include the plaintiff as a resident relative. (The actual fact of residency was never established one way or the other for the purposes of this motion). Furthermore, plaintiff's allegation in Count II, par. 2, that a premium was paid to the defendant to add plaintiff to her father's policy was never addressed by the defendant in its motion and defendant appears to concede plaintiff's status as an "insured" in the language of its motion and memorandum.
Though defendant concedes in its memorandum that if liability cove age applies to the plaintiff so too would underinsured motorist coverage, it responds noting Part I, pg. 5, of the general provisions of the policy regarding liability coverage, which states, "Under these coverages, your policy protects an insured person from liability for damages on account of accidents arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use, loading or unloading of the auto we insure." Clearly, then, under this provision coverage depends on the vehicle one occupies at the time of the accident. Thus, defendant argues, the limitation imposed on the insured in the liability section of the policy would apply with equal force to the insured with respect to the uninsured/underinsured section of the policy. However, in Harvey v. Travelers Indemnity Co.,
Under the circumstances of this case, the plaintiff appears to be an "insured" under the liability section of her father's policy and, therefore, cannot be excluded from uninsured/underinsured CT Page 5252-MMM coverages. Furthermore, said coverages extend to the "insured" and not the vehicle she occupied at the time of the accident.
This court is not satisfied that judgment should enter for the defendant as a matter of law. Defendant's Motion For Summary Judgment is Denied.
FASANO, J.