American Service Insurance v. Jones

927 N.E.2d 840, 401 Ill. App. 3d 514, 340 Ill. Dec. 101, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 273
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 31, 2010
Docket1-08-0402
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 927 N.E.2d 840 (American Service Insurance v. Jones) 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 Service Insurance v. Jones, 927 N.E.2d 840, 401 Ill. App. 3d 514, 340 Ill. Dec. 101, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 273 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

JUSTICE STEELE

delivered the opinion of the court:

In this declaratory judgment action, plaintiff American Service Insurance Company (ASI) appeals an order of the circuit court of Cook County granting summary judgment to defendants Elite Rental, Inc. (Elite), National Casualty Company (National), Ramos Movers, Inc. (Ramos), and Jose G. Torres (Torres) on count II of ASI’s complaint, ruling that ASI provided primary coverage and was obligated to defend Ramos in an underlying automobile collision suit, while National’s policy provided excess coverage. National and Elite cross-appeal from the circuit court’s ruling on their counterclaim, granting summary judgment to ASI and Torres and declaring that National’s policy provides $1 million of coverage. 1

BACKGROUND

The record on appeal discloses the following facts. Ramos is a moving company that owned two trucks for personal moving services. On October 5, 2004, defendant Arthur Jones (Jones) rented a truck from Elite on behalf of Ramos to complete a scheduled move that day from Crystal Lake, Illinois, to Crown Point, Indiana. En route, Jones was involved in a collision with Torres, while still in Illinois, resulting in injuries to Torres.

Since 1995, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ILCC) had issued a public carrier certificate and certificate of public convenience and necessity to Ramos, granting Ramos the authority to operate as a common carrier of household goods between points within a 50-mile radius of Chicago, Illinois, and as a common carrier of other goods to and from points in Illinois.

In 2003, Ramos applied to ASI for truck insurance. The application describes Ramos as a local household furnishings mover. The application listed a truck and a van, each located in Chicago, Illinois, with an operating radius of 50 miles.

ASI insured Ramos under a general liability policy, listing Ramos’s two trucks as covered vehicles. The ASI policy included a single, combined limit for bodily injury and property damage of $750,000. The policy provides:

“COVERAGE A — BODILY INJURY LIABILITY
# * *
ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS
1. Other Insurance. Temporary Substitute and Newly Acquired Vehicles
With respect to a Temporary Substitute automobile, this insurance shall be excess insurance over any other valid and collectible insurance available to the insured.
COVERAGE B — PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY
The company will pay on behalf of the insured all sums, except for punitive or exemplary damages, which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of
A. bodily injury or
B. property damage
to which this insurance applies, caused by an accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of an owned vehicle or any temporary substitute automobile, and the company shall defend any suit alleging such bodily injury or property damage and seeking damages which are payable under the terms of this policy.”

The ASI policy defines a “temporary substitute automobile” as:

“[A] vehicle not owned by the named insured or any resident of the same household, while temporarily used with the permission of the owner as a substitute for an owned vehicle when withdrawn from normal use for servicing or repair or because of its breakdown, loss or distraction [sic].”

ASI’s policy was certified with the ILCC in compliance with Illinois law and as proof of financial responsibility under the rules for carriers of property. ASI’s policy further provides:

“When this policy is certified as proof of financial responsibility under the provisions of any motor vehicle financial responsibility law, such insurance as is afforded by this policy *** shall comply with the provisions of such law to the extent of the coverage and limits of liability required by such law.”

Moreover, ASI’s policy provides:

“The insurance afforded by this policy is primary insurance, except when stated to apply in excess of or contingent upon the absence of other insurance. When this insurance is primary and the insured has other insurance which is stated to be applicable to the loss on an excess or contingent basis, the amount of the company’s liability under this policy shall not be reduced by the existence of other insurance.”

National insured Elite under a commercial automobile liability policy, listing Elite’s rental vehicles as insured vehicles. National’s policy defines “insureds” to include anyone using a covered auto Elite owns or hires or borrows with Elite’s permission. A symbol endorsement to the National policy defined symbol “10” automobiles as:

“Any auto used under a written rental agreement, issued by you, stating a rental period of less than one year. Any auto used in your rental business, or used for non business purposes with your permission.”

The National policy provides coverage to symbol “10” automobiles up to $1 million per occurrence.

Another National endorsement — the “Daily Auto Rental Endorsement” — amended the definition of an insured to include:

“The ‘rentee’ and any other person authorized by and designated in the ‘rental agreement’ held by the ‘rentee,’ subject to all conditions set forth in this endorsement.”

A “rentee” is defined as “a holder of a ‘rental agreement’ ” with Elite “of less than one year.” This endorsement limits liability for rentees to $50,000 for bodily injury to any one person in one accident, $100,000 for bodily injury to two or more people in one accident, and $50,000 for property damage in any one accident.

The “Daily Auto Rental Endorsement” further replaces the general “other insurance” condition to provide:

“For any covered ‘auto,’ the insurance provided by this policy is primary, unless stated otherwise in the ‘rental agreement,’ for the ‘rentee’ and any other person authorized by the ‘rental agreement’ held by the ‘rentee.’ ”

The rental agreement between Elite and Jones provides in part:

“Rentor provides liability coverage to persons using the vehicle with the permission of the Rentor *** in accordance with the provisions of an automobile liability insurance policy with limits equals [sic] to the minimum requirements of any applicable state financial responsibility law or other similar law or statue [sic].

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
927 N.E.2d 840, 401 Ill. App. 3d 514, 340 Ill. Dec. 101, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-service-insurance-v-jones-illappct-2010.