American Home Assurance Co. v. Taylor

931 N.E.2d 313, 402 Ill. App. 3d 549
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 10, 2010
Docket1-08-3169
StatusPublished

This text of 931 N.E.2d 313 (American Home Assurance Co. v. Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Home Assurance Co. v. Taylor, 931 N.E.2d 313, 402 Ill. App. 3d 549 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

JUSTICE NEVILLE

delivered the opinion of the court:

This declaratory judgment action involves a dispute between insurance companies insuring different parties in a collision involving a car and a medical transport van. National Liability and Fire Insurance Company (National), which issued the policy covering the van, claimed that the policy had been cancelled before the accident. Acuity Insurance Company (Acuity), which issued the policy covering the car, a policy that included an uninsured motorist provision, sought a judgment declaring that National’s insurance remained in force because National failed to comply with the notice provisions in the Insurance Code (215 ILCS 5/1 et seq. (West 2006)) for cancelling insurance on medical transport vehicles. The trial court granted National’s motion for summary judgment. We reverse because we find that the notice provisions in the Insurance Code required National to send the Illinois Secretary of State notice of cancellation of the insured’s policy.

BACKGROUND

National issued a general liability policy to Pro Med Paramedic Services (Pro Med) in 2005. The policy included coverage for Pro Med’s vehicles. To purchase the policy, Pro Med obtained a premium financing loan from First Insurance Funding Corporation (First Insurance). Pro Med agreed to give First Insurance a power of attorney authorizing First Insurance to cancel the policy if Pro Med failed to make timely payments on the loan. When Pro Med failed to make the payment due in March 2006, First Insurance sent Pro Med notice that First Insurance would cancel the policy unless First Insurance received a payment within 10 days. Pro Med failed to make the payment. First Insurance sent notice to National cancelling the policy as of April 4, 2006. Despite the cancellation, Pro Med continued to operate its vehicles on Illinois’s roads.

On June 6, 2006, about two months after the date shown on First Insurance’s notice of cancellation, a Pro Med van, driven by Norman Taylor, collided with a car driven by Seamus Keenan. Keenan and his wife, Kathleen, had automobile insurance issued by Acuity. Keenan sued Taylor and Pro Med to recover for Keenan’s injuries. American Home Assurance Company (American Home), which insured Taylor’s personal car, initiated this lawsuit by filing an action for a judgment declaring that it had no duty to defend Taylor against Keenan’s lawsuit. American Home named both Acuity and National as defendants. The trial court entered a judgment in favor of American Home on its complaint. American Home’s judgment is not at issue in this appeal.

Acuity filed a cross-claim for a judgment declaring that it owed Keenan no coverage under the uninsured motorist provision of its policy. National responded that it owed Pro Med no coverage because First Insurance cancelled the policy National issued to Pro Med. Without National’s insurance, no insurance covered the van, so Acuity, according to National, owed Keenan coverage under the uninsured motorist provision of its policy.

National admitted, in its answers to discovery, that it did not notify the Illinois Secretary of State of the cancellation of its policy. Acuity moved for summary judgment on its cross-claim, arguing that the lack of notice to the Secretary of State rendered the purported cancellation ineffective. National also moved for summary judgment, contending that it had no duty to notify the Secretary of State of the cancellation. The trial court granted National’s motion for summary judgment and denied Acuity’s motion for summary judgment. Acuity now appeals.

ANALYSIS

“Summary judgment is proper where the pleadings, depositions, affidavits and admissions on file show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Pajic v. Old Republic Insurance Co., 394 Ill. App. 3d 1040, 1043 (2009). This appeal presents a question of statutory construction. “Questions of statutory construction and the satisfaction of statutory requirements are questions of law properly decided on a motion for summary judgment. [Citation.] We review de novo an order granting summary judgment, without any deference to the judgment of the circuit court.” Pajic, 394 Ill. App. 3d at 1043.

In construing statutes, we strive to give effect to the intent of the legislature. American Country Insurance Co. v. Wilcoxon, 127 Ill. 2d 230, 238 (1989). “Courts should first look to the statutory language as the best indication of the intent of the drafters.” Wilcoxon, 127 Ill. 2d at 238. However, “[i]t is a basic axiom of statutory construction that in determining the intent of the legislature, a court may properly consider not only the language of the statute, but also ‘the reason and necessity for the law, the evils sought to be remedied, and the purpose to be achieved.’ ” Wilcoxon, 127 Ill. 2d at 239, quoting Stewart v. Industrial Comm’n, 115 Ill. 2d 337, 341 (1987), and citing City of Springfield v. Board of Election Commissioners, 105 Ill. 2d 336, 341 (1985).

Acuity claims that the Insurance Code requires notice to a governmental agency, the Illinois Secretary of State, when a premium finance company cancels insurance for medical transport vehicles. See 215 ILCS 5/513al 1(d) (West 2006). Acuity relies on the Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/1 — 100 et seq. (West 2006)), which requires special proof of insurance for medical transport vehicles. 625 ILCS 5/8— 101.1, 8 — 102 (West 2006). Acuity points out that insurance policies covering medical transport vehicles “shall *** contain a provision that the same cannot be cancelled by the company issuing it without giving ten days notice in writing of such cancellation to the owner and the Secretary of State.” 625 ILCS 5/8 — 110 (West 2006). According to Acuity, that restriction “shall apply” where the premium finance company attempts to cancel an insurance policy. 215 ILCS 5/513all(d) (West 2006).

National relies on subsections (1) and (2) of section 8 — 110 of the Vehicle Code, which provide as follows:

“Cancellation of insurance policy — Notice. 1. In the event said policy of insurance be cancelled by the issuing company, or the authority of said issuing company to do business in the State of Illinois be revoked, the Secretary of State shall require the owner who filed the same either to furnish a bond or to replace said policy with another policy according to the provisions of this Act.
2. Said policy of insurance shall also contain a provision that the same cannot be cancelled by the company issuing it without giving ten days notice in writing of such cancellation to the owner and the Secretary of State ***.” 625 ILCS 5/8 — 110(1), (2) (West 2006).

National argues that the Vehicle Code does not apply in this case because the Vehicle Code applies only when the policy is cancelled by the insurer issuing the policy, and here the premium finance company cancelled the policy.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Pajic v. Old Republic Insurance
917 N.E.2d 564 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)
City of Springfield v. Board of Election Commissioners of Springfield
473 N.E.2d 1313 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1985)
Stewart v. Industrial Commission
504 N.E.2d 84 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1987)
Knolls Condominium Ass'n v. Harms
781 N.E.2d 261 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2002)
American Country Insurance v. Wilcoxon
537 N.E.2d 284 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1989)
Henrich v. Libertyville High School
712 N.E.2d 298 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1999)
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Smith
757 N.E.2d 881 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2001)
Pitts v. Travelers Insurance
59 Misc. 2d 142 (New York Supreme Court, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
931 N.E.2d 313, 402 Ill. App. 3d 549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-home-assurance-co-v-taylor-illappct-2010.