Bendall v. White
| Decision Date | 23 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 80-G-1426-NW. |
| Citation | 511 F. Supp. 793 |
| Parties | William Eugene BENDALL, Plaintiff, v. Christopher Eugene WHITE, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama |
Henry H. Self, Jr., Florence, Ala., for plaintiff.
Robert O. Cox, Poellnitz, Cox, McBurney & Jones, Florence, Ala., James E. Smith III, Almon, McAlister, Ashe, Baccus & Smith, Sheffield, Ala., for State Farm and Liberty Mut.
Christopher Eugene White, pro se.
This cause came to the attention of the court upon separate motions for summary judgment filed by defendant Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and defendant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The insurance companies rely primarily on pertinent provisions in the policies of insurance; alternatively, both defendants argue that the "covenant not to execute" signed by the defendant-driver, Christopher Eugene White, relieves the driver, if insured, of any "legal obligation to pay" the judgment.
Counsel for the plaintiff and counsel for the defendant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company stipulated the terms of applicable policies issued by State Farm to James T. Floyd, stepfather of defendant Christopher Eugene White, on which the plaintiff's claim is based. Such policies provide that coverage is provided to the use of a "non-owned automobile" only if "such use, operation or occupancy is with the permission of the owner or person in lawful possession of such automobile and is within the scope of such permission." Nonowned automobile is defined as:
The vehicle involved in this action was owned by Air Products and Chemical Company and was available to Mr. Floyd only for use in his employment to make service calls. Defendant Christopher Eugene White took the truck, which was involved in the accident in this action, without permission while his stepfather was out of town for the weekend. Christopher Eugene White had never used the truck on any other occasion, to his stepfather's knowledge, prior to the occasion on which this accident occurred. No affidavits providing an issue of fact were submitted by the plaintiff, nor does the plaintiff allege that Christopher Eugene White had permission to operate the automobile. Thus, there is no coverage under the applicable policies issued by State Farm on the "non-owned automobile" because it was used without permission.
Alternatively, it is held that there is no coverage for...
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