UM/UIM Coverage Requires Accident With a "Motor Vehicle"

When a UTV is not a Motor Vehicle

Post 4915

The petitioners, Shaun and Jennifer Lopez, and Keith and Melissa Chapman ("Petitioners"), appeal the Order Granting Summary Judgment 29, 2023. Petitioners contend that the circuit court erred in applying contractual terms from the insurance policy's general definitions section of a utility-terrain vehicle ("UTV") to the uninsured and underinsured motorists endorsement finding it did not fit the definition of "motor vehicle."

In Shaun and Jennifer Lopez, individually, and as Next Friends and Legal Guardians of S.L., G.L., and J.L., minors; and Keith and Melissa Chapman, individually, and as Next Friends and Legal Guardians of H.C., a minor, Plaintiffs Below v. Erie Insurance, No. 23-ICA-338, West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals (October 16, 2024) agreed that a UTV is not a "motor vehicle."

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Petitioners are the parents of children who were injured in a motor vehicle crash during a Veterans Day parade, held on November 2, 2019, in St. Albans, West Virginia. The children were passengers on a parade float constructed on a trailer that was being pulled behind a Ford F-150 pickup truck owned and operated by Greg Cox. The truck was insured by Erie ("Erie Policy"). The crash occurred when a 2007 Yamaha UTV owned and operated by John Kidd unexpectedly accelerated and struck the ramp on the trailer, which subsequently collapsed. Mr. Kidd's UTV drove up on the back of the trailer, striking five children who were riding on the trailer. The State of West Virginia classified the UTV and indicated that it was not registered through the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, with the Registration Status identified as "No Registration Required."

Petitioners made a claim for uninsured/underinsured motorists ("UIM") benefits under Mr. Cox's Erie Policy on October 22, 2020. The Erie Policy includes UIM bodily injury limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.

Erie denied coverage for the Petitioners' UIM claims by finding that Mr. Kidd's UTV did not qualify as a "motor vehicle" as defined under the Erie Policy. Erie filed a motion for summary judgment and the circuit court ruled in Erie's favor.

RELEVANT POLICY LANGUAGE

The policy defined "Motor vehicle" as “any vehicle that is self-propelled and is required to be registered under the laws of the state in which "you" reside at the time this policy is issued.” (Emphasis Added)

 DISCUSSION

The primary issue in this case is whether, under the Erie Policy, the UTV meets the general definition of "motor vehicle."

Each exclusion category is predicated upon the subject of the exclusion being a "motor vehicle," which is written in quotations and bolded. Each and every exclusion for "underinsured motor vehicle" begins with an explicit reference to a "motor vehicle," which is modified in some way. The Court needed to determine whether the UTV is a "motor vehicle" under the Erie Policy.

In the Erie Policy's general policy definitions, "motor vehicle" is defined as "any vehicle that is self-propelled and is required to be registered under the laws of the state in which 'you' reside at the time this policy is issued." (Emphasis added.)

It is well-settled that contracts should be read as a whole. To be considered an "underinsured motor vehicle" pursuant to the UIM Endorsement, a vehicle must first be considered a "motor vehicle" under the Erie Policy's general definitions section.

Coverage as an "underinsured motor vehicle" can only apply to the UTV if it is a "motor vehicle" as defined by the general definitions section of the Erie Policy.  However, it is undisputed that the UTV here does not meet the second prong of the Erie Policy's "motor vehicle" definition, the legal requirement that the vehicle be registered.

A claim for underinsured motorists coverage for injuries caused by an off-roading vehicle not subject to West Virginia's registration and licensing requirements the UTV was not legally required to be registered (and thus be insured) and was being driven on a road that was closed off to normal traffic, the denial of underinsured motorists coverage does not conflict with West Virginia Code.

ZALMA OPINION

People often forget that insurance is a contract whose terms and conditions control the obligations of the insurer and its insureds. In this case the accident was caused by the a person operating an UTV which was neither licensed nor registered in accordance with the law of the state of West Virginia and, therefore, did not fit the definition of "motor vehicle" and there was no coverage under the UIM coverage of the policy.

(c) 2024 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

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