Indiana Farmers Mut. Ins. Group v. Blaskie

• Decision Date: 17 April 2000
• Docket Number: No. 57A03-9906-CV-219.,57A03-9906-CV-219.
• Citation: 727 N.E.2d 13
• Parties: INDIANA FARMERS MUTUAL INSURANCE GROUP, Appellant-Defendant, v. Todd BLASKIE and Christine Blaskie, Appellees-Plaintiffs, and Lynn Miller, Appellee-Defendant.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

727 N.E.2d 13

INDIANA FARMERS MUTUAL INSURANCE GROUP, Appellant-Defendant, v. Todd BLASKIE and Christine Blaskie, Appellees-Plaintiffs, and Lynn Miller, Appellee-Defendant.

No. 57A03-9906-CV-219.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

April 17, 2000.

Branch R. Lew, Brian L. England, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Attorneys for Appellant.

Earl Raskosky, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Attorney for Appellees Todd and Christine Blaskie.

OPINION

MATTINGLY, Judge.

Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Group (Insurer) appeals a summary judgment for Todd and Christine Blaskie (collectively "Blaskie") and the denial of its own motion for summary judgment. Insurer raises a single issue, which we restate as whether the trial court properly found that Lynn Miller, the son of its insured, was a "resident" of the insured's household and therefore covered to the full policy limits of the insured's policy.

We reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 14, 1994, a car driven by Todd Blaskie collided with a car driven by Lynn Miller. Lynn's parents, Rex and Janet Miller, owned the car and held an auto insurance policy issued by Insurer. Blaskie's initial complaint asserted that Lynn Miller was "in the state of drunkenness," (R. at 5), at the time of the accident and thus was negligent. The complaint also asserted that Rex Miller negligently entrusted his vehicle to Lynn Miller. The complaint was amended to add Insurer as a defendant in a declaratory judgment action to determine the extent to which Lynn was covered by his parents' automobile insurance policy.

Lynn was not a named insured. However, the policy provided coverage at the policy limits for any "family member." Family member was defined in the policy as "a person related to you by blood, marriage or adoption who is a resident of your household." (R. at 64) (emphasis in original). The policy limits in this case were $100,000/$300,000. However, if Lynn were not a "family member" and were instead merely a permissive user, the policy limited Insurer's liability to "the minimum requirements for the financial responsibility law of the jurisdiction in which the bodily injury" occurred. (R. at 28.) The minimum requirement for coverage in Indiana is $25,000. The trial court determined Lynn was a resident of the household and thus was a "family member," and granted Blaskie's motion for summary judgment.

Lynn was thirty-seven years old at the time of the accident. He graduated from high school in 1981 and married shortly thereafter. He moved away from home and settled in Michigan. He and his wife had a child and were subsequently divorced. Lynn joined the Navy in 1985 and was eventually stationed in San Diego, California. Lynn was still in the Navy at the time of the accident.

Lynn has returned to Indiana while on leave about once every sixteen months. On these visits he has sometimes stayed with his parents and sometimes with relatives other than his parents.¹ The length of these visits has ranged from about ten days to about four weeks. While Lynn is welcome in his parents' home, Lynn and his parents all indicated they did not consider Lynn a resident of the Millers' home. When Lynn stayed with his parents, he kept his clothing in a duffel bag on the porch. He ate some meals and did some laundry there as well. The Millers maintained no bedroom for Lynn, so he slept on a couch when he was there. Lynn has not paid rent or any other living expenses to his parents and has not received mail at his parents' home. Lynn did not have a key to the house, but could come and go as he pleased because the house was not locked. If he needed a car he had access to his parents' vehicles.

On the date of the collision, Lynn was in Indiana for his grandfather's funeral. He stayed at his parents' house during at least part of the visit. Lynn had borrowed his father's car and was driving it when the collision occurred.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

When reviewing the grant of a summary judgment motion, we apply the same standard applicable in the trial court. Summary judgment is proper only when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ind. Trial Rule 56(C). We do not weigh the evidence, but will consider the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Grose v. Bow Lanes, Inc., 661 N.E.2d 1220, 1224 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). We must reverse the grant of a summary judgment motion if the record discloses an incorrect application of the law to those facts. Ayres v. Indian Heights Volunteer Fire Dep't, Inc., 493 N.E.2d 1229, 1234 (Ind.1986).

On appeal from a grant of summary judgment, the burden is on the appellant to prove the trial court erred in determining there were no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Welch v. Scripto-Tokai Corp., 651 N.E.2d 810, 813 (Ind.Ct.App.1995). A fact is "material" for summary judgment purposes if it helps to prove or disprove an essential element of the plaintiff's cause of action. Weida v. Dowden, 664 N.E.2d 742, 747 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). A factual issue is "genuine" if the trier of fact is required to resolve an opposing party's different version of the underlying facts. Id.

The fact that the parties make cross-motions for summary judgment does not alter our standard of review. Instead, we must consider each motion separately to determine whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Hendricks County Bank & Trust Co. v. Guthrie Bldg. Materials, Inc., 663 N.E.2d 1180, 1183 (Ind.Ct.App.1996).

Construction of Insurance Policy Provisions

In determining residency status under an automobile liability insurance contract, we consider the following factors: 1) whether the claimant maintained a physical presence in the named insured's home; 2) whether he had the subjective intent to reside there; and 3) the nature of his access to the named insured's home and its contents. Jones v. Western Reserve Group, 699 N.E.2d 711, 714 (Ind.Ct. App.1998), reh'g denied, trans. denied, 714 N.E.2d 169 (Ind.1999). In addition, the fact-finder must consider all of the evidence indicative of the claimant's living habits. These factors should be considered in the context in which the term "resident" is used and the purpose of the instrument in which the term is employed. Id.

In construing the term "resident" in an insurance policy, we give the term its broad meaning in "extension" cases—i.e., cases that involve the question whether insurance coverage should be extended beyond the named insured. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Crafton, 551 N.E.2d 893, 895 (Ind.Ct.App.1990). By contrast, we construe the term narrowly in "exclusion" cases. Id. In choosing a broad or narrow construction we are "limited to the reasonable interpretation of the term as used." Id.

1. Physical Presence

We recently addressed the "physical presence" factor in Jones, where we reversed a summary judgment that an accident victim was not a "resident" of the policyholder's household. There Jones, the accident victim, sought coverage as a "resident" under her mother and stepfather's (the Wrights') insurance policy. Jones had moved with the Wrights to Winchester, Indiana. She enrolled in Winchester High School but soon considered quitting because the students were circulating rumors about her. Jones moved into the home of her aunt in Richmond in order to finish high school there. She took some clothing and personal items to Richmond but left some clothes, a stereo, and a television in Winchester. She did not have her own room at the Richmond home. She slept on a couch or on the floor of her cousin's room. Her younger brother started sleeping in her room in the Winchester house, though Jones still stored some personal items in that room. Jones subsequently moved into an apartment in Richmond and three months later moved in with another aunt who lived in Richmond. After seven months there, she moved into an apartment with two high school friends. While she was living in that apartment, Jones was involved in the accident for which insurance coverage was sought. Upon her release from the hospital, she moved back to the Wrights' home in Winchester.

We noted that "the facts appear to weigh against Jones being found a resident of the Wright home in Winchester," 699 N.E.2d at 716, but held that "reasonable persons could draw a contrary conclusion." Id. Jones' attempt to move into her own apartment could have been "merely a failed experiment in independence." Id.

In Crafton, the policyholder's son had an "impromptu" arrangement with his mother regarding his overnight visits to her home. He never stayed more than one night there; the visits were not prearranged or pursuant to any schedule; he stayed there "maybe once every six weeks" or "whenever he want[ed] to"; and he slept in a sleeping bag when he visited. When the mother took out the insurance policy in question, she did not list her son. The son had never driven the mother's automobile. We characterized those facts as "the absence of any evidence that [the son] was a resident of [the mother/policyholder's] household." 551 N.E.2d at 896.

Lynn's absence from the Miller home can hardly be characterized as a "failed experiment in independence" and his physical presence at the Miller home was minimal compared to that of the persons involved in either Jones or Crafton. Lynn had been living away from the Millers' home for some thirteen years at the time of the accident and had returned to the Millers' household quite infrequently. The facts suggest when Lynn was at the Millers' household his status was that of a temporary visitor rather than that of a resident, as he stored his personal items on the porch, slept on a couch, and did not have a room of his own. The trial court erred to the extent it determined Lynn was a resident based on his physical presence at the Millers' home.

2. Subjective Intent

In Allstate Ins. Co. v....