Beck v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance

429 F.2d 813
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJuly 28, 1970
DocketNo. 27930
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 429 F.2d 813 (Beck v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beck v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance, 429 F.2d 813 (5th Cir. 1970).

Opinion

DYER, Circuit Judge.

In No. 67-435 in the District Court, Charles Beck, Junior, sought to compel Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. (Pennsylvania) to satisfy a judgment against Beck, Junior, in excess of the limits of a policy issued to Beck, Senior, entered in a state court action brought by Mary Brantley and her father for her personal injuries suffered as a result of a tragic automobile accident. In No. 68-339 the Brantleys, as judgment creditors of Beck, Junior, sought to recover the policy limits of Beck, Senior’s policy issued by Pennsylvania which the Brantleys contend covered Beck, Junior. The actions were consolidated and in a non-jury trial the District Court held that Beck, Junior, was covered by the policy and that the Brantleys were entitled to recover the amount of the policy limits of $25,000.00 together with interest from the date of the state court judgment, costs and attorneys’ fees incurred in the District Court action. The Court also held that Pennsylvania was not liable for the amount of the judgment in excess of the policy limits.

Charles Beck, Senior, was the named insured under a Family Combination Insurance Policy issued in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by Pennsylvania1 with coverage limits of $25,000.00 per person and $50,000.00 per accident. The policy covered “any relative of the named insured who is a resident of the same household.”

In his application for insurance Beck, Senior, stated that he and his wife were the only operators of the family automobile and that none of the operators of the vehicle had been involved in an accident. Beck, Senior, told the agent at the time he made the application for the [815]*815policy that he did not intend for his son to be covered except when home on ordinary leave from the armed services because Beck, Junior, who was then 19 years old, had been involved in three accidents and was in the “assigned risk category.” The policy was accordingly rated “1B-0” which meant that there were no operators under 25 years of age and that no accidents were charged to any of the operators.

On October 18, 1964, Beck, Junior, while driving an automobile owned by William Owens with the latter’s permission, lost control of the vehicle in the middle of a sharp “S” curve in Dade County, Florida. The car skidded and crashed through guardrails, turning over several times. Of the seven people in the vehicle five were injured, one was killed and plaintiff-appellee, Mary Brantley, was permanently paralyzed from the neck down. At the time of the accident Beck was in the armed services and stationed at Homestead Air Force Base where he had been assigned since April of 1963.

About two weeks after the accident Beck’s father reported it to Pennsylvania’s local agent, at the same time telling the agent that he did not think the policy covered the accident. In due course Pennsylvania caused an investigation to be made of the underwriting file, the status of Beck, Junior, the facts and circumstances of the accident, and of the use of the automobile. From the investigation it appeared that Beck, Junior, was not declared to be a resident of the household on the application, which called for a listing of the operators. Beck, Senior, did not seek coverage for Beck, Junior, and there was no coverage afforded the latter. A report from a Florida servicing agency indicated that Beck, Junior, had stated that he had established a residence of his own in Homestead, Florida, and that the Volvo automobile involved in the accident was used regularly by Beck, Junior. Finally, the National Bureau of Casualty Underwriters rating manual provided that “resident of the same household,” which appeared in the senior Beck’s policy, did not include “an individual in active military service with the Armed Forces of the United States of America, unless such individual customarily operates the automobile.”

Based upon the application, policy, investigation and rating manual, Pennsylvania’s vice-president in charge of claims denied liability under the policy for lack of coverage to Beck, Junior.

On February 26, 1965, Mary Brantley and her father brought suit in the Florida courts for damages arising out of the accident. No notice of this suit was given to Pennsylvania nor was any demand made upon it to defend the suit.

Prior to the trial the Brantleys made a settlement offer to Beck, Junior, and his attorney of $25,000.00. Beck, Junior, did not effectuate a settlement nor did he communicate this offer to Pennsylvania. On December 16, 1965, after a non-jury trial, final judgments against Beck, Junior, were entered in behalf of Mary Brantley in the sum of $165,000.00 and for her father in the sum of $26,-141.83 and a cost judgment was thereafter entered in their behalf in the sum of $517.80.

On January 27, 1966, after judgment had been entered in the state court against Beck, Junior, the Brantleys made an offer to settle the judgments for the sum of $25,000.00 in a letter to Beck’s attorney. A copy of this letter was sent to Pennsylvania but neither Beck, Senior, Beck, Junior, nor the Brantleys made a direct demand upon Pennsylvania to settle within the policy limits. On April 27, 1967, Beck brought suit against Pennsylvania for the amount of the state court judgments together with $3,500.00 attorneys’ fees for defending the state court action, interest from the date of the judgments and attorneys’ fees incurred in the District Court. On March 22, 1968, the Brantleys sued Pennsylvania for the policy limits of $25,000.00 plus interest and attorneys’ fees.

The District Court concluded that at the time of the accident Beck, Junior, [816]*816was a resident of his father’s household and therefore covered under the terms of the policy notwithstanding the fact that Beck, Junior, was stationed at Homestead and his father’s home was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Accordingly, the Court held that the Brantleys were entitled to recover the policy limits, interest from the date of the state court judgment and attorneys’ fees.

The District Court further held that Pennsylvania was not guilty of a bad faith refusal to settle within the policy limits and, accordingly, entered judgment for Pennsylvania that it was not liable for any of the state court judgment in excess of the policy limits.

COVERAGE

On this appeal Pennsylvania contends that the District Court erred in holding that Beck, Junior, was covered under the terms of the policy. Pennsylvania first argues that Beck, Junior, was not a resident of his father’s household because he was stationed away from home and had established his own residence and that, even if he were to be considered a resident of his father’s household, both parties to the contract intended that he was not to be covered and the insurance policy should be made to conform to this intention. Finally, it is urged that the car was furnished for the Junior Beck’s “regular use” and was thus excluded from coverage by the terms of the policy. We shall treat these contentions seriatim.

Pennsylvania, in support of its argument that Beck, Junior, maintained a separate residence, contends that because Beck, Junior, had chipped in with some friends to pay the rent one time on a house near Homestead, Florida, he established a residence in Florida. Pennsylvania also points out that Beck, Junior, made an application to Dade Junior College of Florida in which he stated that he had been a resident of Florida for at least one year.

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429 F.2d 813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beck-v-pennsylvania-national-mutual-casualty-insurance-ca5-1970.