Auto-Owners Insurance v. Moore

750 P.2d 1387, 156 Ariz. 184
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedApril 12, 1988
Docket2 CA-CV 88-0037
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 750 P.2d 1387 (Auto-Owners Insurance v. Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Auto-Owners Insurance v. Moore, 750 P.2d 1387, 156 Ariz. 184 (Ark. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

ROLL, Judge.

Defendant/appellant Byron C. Moore (Moore) appeals from the granting of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff/appellee Auto-Owners Insurance Company (Auto-Owners) in a declaratory judgment action brought by Auto-Owners. This lawsuit arose in connection *with an automobile-pedestrian traffic accident in which Moore was severely injured.

We vacate the trial court’s order granting judgment in favor of Auto-Owners and remand for trial.

FACTS

On November 15, 1985, Moore was in a crosswalk on Mill Avenue, just north of Eleventh Street in Tempe, Arizona when he was struck by a vehicle travelling southbound in the curb lane, driven by Scott Seeger. Scott was 16 years old at the time and was driving a Pontiac Trans-Am owned by his father, Eric Seeger, and used by his mother, Joan Seeger. When the traffic accident occurred, Scott was on his way to pick up his mother and transport *185 her to Sanford Rose Associates, where both he and his mother assisted in various office tasks. Sanford Rose Associates is a business owned by Eric Seeger and insured by Auto-Owners.

In a March 25, 1986, sworn statement given by Eric Seeger, he stated that Scott came to Sanford Rose Associates at 325 East Southern in Tempe, Arizona after school on the day of the accident. Eric Seeger stated that Scott had been at the office less than an hour when Eric told Scott that it was time for Scott to go pick up Joan Seeger and bring her back to the office to work. However, in a deposition on December 9, 1986, Eric Seeger stated that Scott had gone directly from school to pick up Joan Seeger and insisted that he had not seen Scott that day prior to learning of the accident.

Scott testified at a deposition in December of 1986 that on the day of the accident he drove the car to school and did maintenance on it in connection with his auto shop class. He testified that he was out of regular classes at 2:30 in the afternoon and that he remained at school to work on the car until the time he went to pick up his mother to bring her to Sanford Rose Associates. The accident occurred before Scott reached his mother’s location.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 16,1986, Moore filed a complaint against the Seegers individually and against Sanford Rose Associates. Moore maintained that Scott’s trip was taken in the course of the business of Sanford Rose Associates. Auto-Owners filed a complaint seeking declaratory relief on the issue of liability coverage for the accident.

Moore moved for summary judgment on Auto-Owners’ complaint. The trial court initially denied Moore’s motion for summary judgment, finding that, while there were no genuine issues of material fact in dispute, reasonable minds could differ in determining from those facts whether the vehicle driven by Scott was being used in the business of Sanford Rose Associates when the accident occurred.

Moore later renewed his motion for summary judgment, and Auto-Owners filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. On January 19, 1987, the trial court granted Auto-Owners’ cross-motion for summary judgment and denied Moore’s motion for summary judgment. The trial court stated that, based on the facts of the case, “it is clear the trip was for personal business,” and therefore no coverage existed under the Auto-Owners policy.

ISSUES ON APPEAL

Moore argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for summary judgment and in granting Auto-Owners’ cross-motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability coverage.

DISCUSSION

In reviewing the granting of summary judgment, this court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion and draw all inferences fairly arising from the evidence in favor of that opposing party. Brown Wholesale Electric Co. v. Safeco Insurance Co., 135 Ariz. 154, 157, 659 P.2d 1299, 1302 (App.1982). Summary judgment is appropriate where the record shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, that only one inference can be drawn from those facts, and that based upon the facts, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Giovanelli v. First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Phoenix, 120 Ariz. 577, 581, 587 P.2d 763, 767 (App.1978). If there are material facts upon which reasonable people could reach different conclusions, summary judgment is inappropriate. Gulf Insurance Co. v. Grisham, 126 Ariz. 123, 124, 613 P.2d 283, 284 (1980).

The issue in this case is whether the Seeger vehicle was being used “in the business of” Sanford Rose Associates when the accident occurred. The applicable language in the policy issued by Auto-Owners is as follows:

COVERAGE E — BUSINESS LIABILITY
The Company [Auto-Owners] will pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the *186 insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury, property damage or personal injury caused by an occurrence to which this insurance applies ....
******
BUSINESS LIABILITY EXCLUSIONS Under Coverage E, this policy does not apply:
1. to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the ownership, maintenence, operation, use, loading or unloading of:
(a) any automobile or aircraft owned or operated by or rented or loaned to any insured; or
(b) any other automobile or aircraft operated by any person in the course of his employment by any insured.
******
This exclusion [exclusion 1(a) & (b) above] does not apply to the use in the business of the named insured of a non-owned private passenger automobile by any person, other than the named insured, or the occasional and infrequent use of a non-owned commercial automobile by an employee of the named insured in such business; ...

The trial court found that it was not material whether Scott left from his father’s office or from the school to run what it characterized as an “errand.” The trial court cited the test from Anderson v. Gobea, 18 Ariz.App. 277, 281-82, 501 P.2d 453, 457-58 (1972). The test in Anderson was adopted from a New York opinion by Judge Cardozo, which stated:

“If, however, the work has had no part in creating the necessity for travel, if the journey would have gone forward though the business errand had been dropped, and would have been cancelled upon failure of the private purpose, though the business errand was undone, the travel is then personal, and personal the risk.”

18 Ariz.App. at 282, 501 P.2d at 458, quoting Marks’ Dependents v.

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

Related

Cammon Consultants Corp. v. Day
889 P.2d 24 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1994)
Pioneer Annuity Life Insurance v. Rich
880 P.2d 682 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1994)
Do by Minker v. Farmers Ins. Co.
828 P.2d 1254 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
Maders v. Estes Co.
820 P.2d 322 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
Blocher v. Thompson
818 P.2d 167 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
Estate of Aten v. City of Tucson
817 P.2d 951 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
Appels-Meehan v. Appels
805 P.2d 415 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
Ancell v. Union Station Associates, Inc.
803 P.2d 450 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Boatman v. Samaritan Health Services, Inc.
812 P.2d 1025 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Creative Learning Systems, Inc. v. State
800 P.2d 50 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Nelson v. Nelson
791 P.2d 661 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Carrillo v. El Mirage Roadhouse, Inc.
793 P.2d 121 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Federoff v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
788 P.2d 104 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1989)
Carrow Co. v. Lusby
788 P.2d 1201 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1989)
Taylor v. Fireman's Fund Insurance
778 P.2d 1328 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1989)
Gibbons v. Chavez
770 P.2d 377 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)
Nationwide Mutual Insurance v. CNA Insurance
767 P.2d 716 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)
Dewey v. Arnold
764 P.2d 1124 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)
JOHNSON BY JOHNSON v. Svidergol
757 P.2d 609 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)
United Services Automobile Ass'n v. Parry
761 P.2d 157 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
750 P.2d 1387, 156 Ariz. 184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/auto-owners-insurance-v-moore-arizctapp-1988.