Ott v. Firemen's Fund Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 26 November 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 70226,70226 |
| Citation | 936 S.W.2d 165 |
| Parties | Timothy J. OTT, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. FIREMEN'S FUND INSURANCE CO. and Cathy Crane, Defendants/Respondents. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Timothy L. Hill, St. Louis, for plaintiff/appellant.
Ruth A. Przybeck, Kleinschmidt, Przybeck & Frayne, St. Louis, for defendants/respondents.
Plaintiff, Timothy Ott, appeals from a summary judgment in favor of defendant, Firemen's Fund Insurance Company, decreeing that its policy of insurance issued to Commercial Maintenance Services, Inc. did not provide uninsured motorist coverage to plaintiff, president of Commercial Maintenance. We affirm.
Ott was injured when he was struck by an automobile operated by Cathy Crane while he was walking across a parking lot at a restaurant in the early morning. He was walking to an automobile owned by Commercial and furnished to him for his use. At the time of the accident he was approximately six to eight car spaces from the automobile he was using. He filed a petition against Crane and Firemen's for injuries he sustained in the accident. After the summary judgment was entered in favor of Firemen's, a judgment against Crane in the amount of $150,000 was entered. At the time of the accident Crane was uninsured. Ott collected the policy limits on his personal insurance policy.
Firemen's policy provides:
A. COVERAGE
1. We will pay all sums the "insured" is legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or driver of an "uninsured motor vehicle". The damages must result from "bodily injury" sustained by the "insured" caused by an "accident". The owner's or driver's liability for these damages must result from the ownership, maintenance or use of the "uninsured motor vehicle"...
B. WHO IS AN INSURED
3. Anyone else "occupying" a covered "auto" or a temporary substitute for a covered "auto". The covered "auto" must be out of service because of its breakdown, repair, servicing, loss or destruction.
4. Anyone for damages he or she is entitled to recover because of "bodily injury" sustained by another "insured".
"You" and "your" under the policy refer to the named insured. The trial court found that Commercial Maintenance was the named insured under the policy and was therefore the "you" referred to in the "Who is an Insured" provisions of the policy. As the corporation was not an individual the second paragraph of those provisions did not apply. The court found plaintiff was not occupying the covered vehicle at the time of the accident. The court further found that the majority of jurisdictions to consider the question have held that a shareholder of a close or family corporation is not "a named insured" under the policy where the corporation is the named insured. The court found plaintiff was not covered by the policy provisions.
Plaintiff makes no contention that he was "occupying" the insured vehicle at the time of his accident. It is his contention that the provisions of the policy are ambiguous as to who the insureds were under the policy. The thrust of that contention is that he was designated as one of the permitted drivers in the declarations and that his driving record was considered in setting premiums.
We do not find those matters relevant to the issue of whether the policy provides coverage for injuries caused by uninsured motorists. The policy is quite clear that the coverage afforded is to the named insured--the corporation--and to persons injured while occupying the vehicle. Plaintiff was neither. Under Missouri law, if the policy is unambiguous, it is to be enforced as written absent a statute or public policy requiring coverage. Rodriguez v....
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