Allstate Insurance v. Drumheller

185 F. App'x 152
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJune 27, 2006
Docket05-2591
StatusUnpublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 185 F. App'x 152 (Allstate Insurance v. Drumheller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allstate Insurance v. Drumheller, 185 F. App'x 152 (3d Cir. 2006).

Opinions

OPINION

McKEE, Circuit Judge.

Allstate Insurance Company appeals the District Court’s order in this declaratory action in which that court ruled that Allstate had a duty to defend and indemnify Drumheller pursuant to its homeowner’s policy with him. Drumheller had been sued to recover for injuries sustained by a third party as a result of an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle or ATV. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm the District Court.

I.

Since we write primarily for the parties who are familiar with this dispute, we need not set forth the factual or procedural background except insofar as may be helpful to our brief discussion. Drumheller’s Deluxe Homeowner’s Policy with Allstate provides limited coverage for bodily injury arising out of the use of an ATV, but contains the following exclusion:

Losses We Do Not Cover Under Coverage X:
We do not cover bodily injury ... arising out of the ownership ... use of any motor vehicle.... However, this exclusion does not apply to: b. any motor vehicle designed principally for recreational use off public roads, unless the vehicle is being used by an insured person and is being used away from an insured premises.

The following definitions that are contained in the policy are relevant to our discussion:

7. “Residence Premises” means the dwelling, other structures and land located at the address stated in the Policy Declarations
8. “Insured Premises” means:
(a) the residence premises; and
(b) Under Section II only ....
(6) any premises used by an insured person in connection with the residence premises.

In the coverage action underlying the instant dispute, the District Court initially determined that Allstate did not have a duty to defend or to indemnify Drumheller, because the injuries that are involved in the personal injury action in which Drumheller is a defendant occurred when the ATV struck a manhole on a trail which was not on the “residence premises.” App. at 26. Accordingly, the District Court reasoned that Drumheller was a trespasser. App. at 27. The District Court framed the coverage issue under the relevant language of the policy as “whether the trail on which Drumheller was operating the ATV was used ‘in connection with the residence premises.’ ” App. 26. [154]*154After reviewing the undisputed facts, and relevant case law, the District Court held:

Drumheller possesses no property rights in the trail, and use of the trail is not necessary to access his residence premises. Aside from Drumheller’s use of the trail for recreational purposes, [Drumheller and Katzenmoyer] have failed to present any evidence that demonstrates a connection between Drumheller’s premises and the trail.

App. 28.

Drumheller and Katzenmoyer appealed, and we remanded in an unpublished opinion, dated September 30, 2004. There, we noted that the Pennsylvania Superior Court had decided State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. MacDonald, 850 A.2d 707 (Pa.Super.2004), after the District Court had entered judgment in favor of Allstate in Allstate’s declaratory judgment action. In MacDonald, the Superior Court found that a homeowner’s policy covered liability for the death of a visitor using an ATV even though the accident occurred on a field that was adjacent to the insured property. Since MacDonald bore directly on the coverage dispute between Drumheller and Allstate, we vacated the District Court’s grant of summary judgment and remanded that dispute so the District Court could determine if MacDonald had any impact on its grant of summary judgment. App. at 296.

On remand, the District Court found that MacDonald did impact its original analysis. The court predicted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would follow the MacDonald analysis as to the scope of the coverage of Allstate’s policy with Drumheller.1 Accordingly, the District Court held that Allstate had a duty to defend and to indemnify Drumheller in Katzenmoyer’s state court personal injury action2 App. 297-300.

Allstate then filed this appeal.3

[155]*155II. DISCUSSION

Under the terms of the policy, Katzenmoyer’s bodily injury is not covered if Drumheller was operating the ATV “away from an insured premises.” More specifically, if Drumheller was not operating the ATV on his “residence premises” or on “any premises used by [Drumheller] in connection with the residence premises,” Katzenmoyer’s bodily injury claim is not covered and, therefore, Allstate has no duty to defend or to indemnify Drumheller in Katzenmoyer’s state court action. Obviously, when Drumheller struck the sewer manhole on the trail, he was not operating the ATV on his “residence premises.” Therefore, the dispositive issue is whether the trail was used “in connection with the residence premises.”

As noted, on remand the District Court applied the analysis in MacDonald and reasoned that, since the accident on the trail occurred in a location that Drumheller used in connection with the residence premises, the resulting injuries were covered under Allstate’s policy. Therefore, after predicting that the state supreme court would follow MacDonald’s reasoning,4 the District Court held that Allstate had a duty to defend and to indemnify Drumheller in Katzenmoyer’s personal injury action. Our analysis of MacDonald leads us to the same conclusion.

A. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. MacDonald, 850 A.2d 707 (Pa.Super.2004).

The facts of MacDonald are well-known to the parties and were thoroughly discussed during oral argument. Accordingly, we need not reiterate them in great detail. The policy State Farm issued to MacDonald excluded coverage for bodily injury arising out of the ownership of “a motor vehicle owned ... by ... any insured .... ” 850 A.2d at 709. The policy defined a motor vehicle to include “a motorized ... all-terrain vehicle ... owned by an insured and designed or used for recreational or utility purposes off public roads, while off an insured location.” Id. at 709-10. Finally, the policy defined “insured location” to mean:

a. the residence premises;
b. the part of any premises, other structures and grounds used by you as a residence. This includes premises, structures and grounds you acquire while this policy is in effect for your use as a residence;
[156]*156c. any premises used by you in connection with the premises included in [a. or b.]

Id. at 710 (emphasis in original).

In disposing of State Farm’s appeal, the Superior Court first noted that the policy did not define “use” or the phrase “in connection with.” The Superior Court held that “use” and “in connection with” had to be interpreted “according to their plain and ordinary meanings.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
185 F. App'x 152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allstate-insurance-v-drumheller-ca3-2006.