Laraway v. Heart of America Life Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 03 June 1969
• Docket Number: No. 12792,12792
• Citation: 153 W.Va. 70,167 S.E.2d 749
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: Helen L. LARAWAY v. HEART OF AMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Corporation.

Page 749

167 S.E.2d 749

153 W.Va. 70

Helen L. LARAWAY v. HEART OF AMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Corporation.

No. 12792.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted May 6, 1969.

Decided June 3, 1969.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Provisions of an insurance policy which are clear and unambiguous are not subject to judicial construction or interpretation but must be applied by a court in accordance with the intent thus plainly expressed.

2. Where an accident insurance policy provides for payment of benefits to the beneficiary in a stipulated amount for bodily injuries sustained accidentally by the named insured and resulting in his death while riding in or driving any private passenger automobile, which policy states that, as used in the policy, 'automobile means a land vehicle of the type commonly known and referred to as 'automobile', and a private passenger automobile means a private automobile of the private passenger design designed primarily for transporting persons,' there may be no recovery by the beneficiary in a civil action on such policy as a consequence of an accident causing bodily injury to the insured resulting in his death while riding as a passenger in a pickup truck equipped with a stake body, owned and maintained by the employer of the insured, a corporation, for corporate business purposes.

Baker & Armistead, Charles S. Armistead, Morgantown, for appellant.

Clark B. Frame, Morgantown, for appellee.

CALHOUN, Judge:

This case, on appeal from a final judgment of the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, involves an action instituted in that court by Helen L. Laraway, as plaintiff, against Heart of America Life Insurance Company, a corporation, as defendant, to recover the sum of $12,000 alleged to be due her as the beneficiary under the terms of an accident insurance policy issued by the defendant company to her husband, Robert L. Laraway. The insurance policy provided for death benefits in the sum of $12,000 to be paid to the plaintiff as beneficiary in case of an accidental injury resulting in the death of the insured. The plaintiff's husband, the insured, was accidentally killed while riding as a passenger in a pickup truck. The basic question presented for decision is whether the pickup truck was a 'private passenger automobile' within the meaning of the provisions of the insurance policy.

The case was tried by the court in lieu of a jury. From a judgment for $12,000 rendered by the trial court in favor of Helen L. Laraway, the plaintiff, against Heart of America Insurance Company, the defendant has been granted the appeal to this Court.

The case was submitted to the trial court for decision upon the complaint; upon a motion of the defendant to dismiss the action upon the ground of alleged improper venue and on the ground that Heart of America Life Insurance Company was not the proper party defendant; upon an affidavit filed as an exhibit with the motion to dismiss the action; upon an answer to the complaint filed by the defendant; upon a stipulation of facts; upon the testimony of three witnesses taken at the bar of the court; and upon oral argument of counsel.

The case was submitted for decision in this Court upon the record made in the trial court and upon briefs in writing and oral argument of counsel.

The plaintiff and her husband, prior to his death, were residents of Terra Alta in Preston County, West Virginia. The plaintiff continued to be a resident of Preston County at the time of the trial. The husband, prior to his death, had been employed as a foreman by Charles S. Dell Company at York, Pennsylvania. He remained in Pennsylvania in connection with his employment during work days and returned to his home on weekends. For about a month prior to the time of the death of the insured, his son, Everett Kent Laraway, had been working with the insured for the same employer and at the same employment site in Pennsylvania. In traveling between their home and their place of employment, they took turns in driving the employer's pickup truck from time to time. While they were traveling from their home to their place of employment on Monday morning, September 11, 1967, and while the son was driving the employer's pickup truck, the accident occurred. The stipulation of facts entered into in the trial court contains the following language:

'2. On Monday, September 11, 1967, the said Robert L. Laraway, while riding as a passenger in a 1966 Chevrolet Pickup Truck with a stake body, was killed when the driver of said vehicle allowed or permitted said vehicle to run into a large oak tree along the right of way of Route 30 approximately two miles east of New Oxford in Mt. Pleasant Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania.

'3. The pickup truck in which Mr. Laraway was riding at the time of his death was furnished to him by his employer, * * * and the said Laraway was required to use said truck as a condition of his employment and was permitted by his employer to take said truck with him to his home over weekends. The said Laraway, as foreman for said company, used the truck to haul his tools, to pick up supplies and materials for his employer.

'4. Helen L. Laraway, the plaintiff in this action, is receiving Workmen's Compensation benefits from the Bureau of Compensation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a result of the death of the said Robert L. Laraway, his death having occurred within the scope of his employment as an employee of said Charles S. Dell Company.'

Whether a pickup truck may be regarded as an 'automobile' within the coverage of an accident insurance policy depends in a great measure upon the language of the policy. If the language of the policy in this respect is ambiguous, courts may consider the nature of the construction of the vehicle; whether it is used for private personal purposes as distinguished from business or commercial purposes; and whether, if used for private purposes, it is used for the transportation of passengers as well as for...