Blair v. State Farm Insurance

697 N.W.2d 266, 269 Neb. 874, 2005 Neb. LEXIS 101
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMay 27, 2005
DocketS-04-280, S-04-308, S-04-325
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 697 N.W.2d 266 (Blair v. State Farm Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blair v. State Farm Insurance, 697 N.W.2d 266, 269 Neb. 874, 2005 Neb. LEXIS 101 (Neb. 2005).

Opinions

Connolly, J.

After running a red light, an underinsured driver struck Marcelle A. DeWitt’s vehicle. Jason Blair, the driver of DeWitt’s vehicle, was injured, and Daniel R. Kost, Jr., and Traci A. Prickett, passengers in the vehicle, were killed. The automobile liability policy that insured DeWitt’s vehicle, issued by State Farm Insurance Company (State Farm), did not provide under-insured motorist (UIM) coverage. But Blair and the personal representatives of the estates of Kost and Prickett (collectively the appellants) sued State Farm, alleging that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6408 (Reissue 2004) required the policy to provide such coverage. Section 44-6408(1) requires an automobile liability insurance policy to provide UIM coverage if the policy is “delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed with respect to any motor vehicle principally garaged in [Nebraska].” The district court granted summary judgment for State Farm.

We hold that under § 44-6408, when an insurer delivers, issues for delivery, or renews an automobile liability policy, the policy must provide UIM coverage if Nebraska is the state where the insured intends to keep the vehicle most often compared to any other state during the policy period. Because a fact question exists whether — when her parents renewed the policy — Nebraska was the state where DeWitt intended to keep her vehicle most often compared to any other state during the policy period, we remand the cause for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

DeWitt is a resident of Wyoming, but attended college in Nebraska from 1997 to 2000. In December 1999, DeWitt loaned her vehicle to her boyfriend. Her boyfriend went to a dance club [876]*876with Blair, Kost, and Prickett. After leaving the club, DeWitt’s boyfriend decided that he had drunk too much to drive safely and asked Blair to drive DeWitt’s vehicle. Blair agreed. As they were proceeding through an intersection, the driver of another vehicle, who was fleeing police, ran a red light and crashed into DeWitt’s vehicle. Kost and Prickett were killed, and Blair suffered serious injuries. We note that DeWitt’s boyfriend was also injured in the collision, but is not a party to this appeal.

At the time of the collision, State Farm provided automobile liability insurance to DeWitt under a policy issued to her parents, who live in Wyoming. According to the parties, Wyoming, unlike Nebraska, does not require UIM coverage, and it is undisputed that the State Farm policy did not expressly provide for UIM coverage.

Following the collision, the negligent driver’s insurer paid the appellants the limits of the driver’s policy. But according to the appellants, this did not completely compensate them for their injuries. So, each commenced actions against State Farm. In support of their claims, the appellants relied on § 44-6408. They alleged that DeWitt’s vehicle was principally garaged in Nebraska and that as a result, State Farm was required to provide UIM coverage.

Movement of Vehicle

Because the focus of the dispute is on where DeWitt’s vehicle was principally garaged, it is necessary to review where DeWitt spent time and where her vehicle was located in 1999. As noted, DeWitt attended college in Nebraska from 1997 to 2000. She estimated that while attending college, she would typically spend 200 days per year in Nebraska. The only periods when she was not in Nebraska were holidays and summers.

During the spring of 1999, DeWitt purchased the vehicle in Lincoln, Nebraska. She did not register her vehicle in Nebraska. But according to DeWitt, in May 1999, after purchasing the vehicle, her mother informed the family’s State Farm insurance agent that DeWitt was using the vehicle in Nebraska. DeWitt testified that she believed her mother had filled out a form sent to the family by State Farm.

In June 1999, DeWitt’s family renewed the insurance policy. The declarations page sent to them at the time of renewal states [877]*877that the policy period was from June 17, 1999, to February 10, 2000.

At the time of the renewal, neither DeWitt nor the vehicle was in Nebraska. Instead, DeWitt had the vehicle with her in New York, where she worked as a nanny over her 1999 summer break. DeWitt did not know if anyone had notified State Farm that the vehicle would he in New York during the summer of 1999. When the nanny job ended, DeWitt returned to Nebraska for the fall 1999 semester. She remained in Nebraska until December 2000.

District Court’s Grant-of Summary Judgment

State Farm moved for summary judgment in each case. The cases were consolidated for the purposes of the motion.

In support of its motion, State Farm made two arguments. First, it argued that under § 44-6408, the place where a vehicle is principally garaged is the same as the insured’s domicile, and that because DeWitt was domiciled in Wyoming, Nebraska law did not require that the policy provide UIM coverage. Second, State Farm argued that in the alternative, the place where DeWitt’s vehicle was principally garaged was the place it was being kept at the time that the policy was renewed. According to State Farm, because the vehicle was in New York when the policy was renewed, New York was the place it was principally garaged and therefore, State Farm was not required to provide UIM coverage.

Initially, the court denied summary judgment. But after State Farm moved for reconsideration, the court adopted State Farm’s second argument and granted it summary judgment.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

The appellants assign that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to State Farm.

On cross-appeal, State Farm assigns that the district court erred in failing to conclude that a vehicle is principally garaged in the same place as the insured’s domicile.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is proper when the pleadings and evidence admitted at the hearing disclose that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact or as to the ultimate inferences that [878]*878may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Dworak v. Farmers Ins. Exch., ante p. 386, 693 N.W.2d 522 (2005).

Statutory interpretation presents a question of law. When reviewing questions of law, an appellate court has an obligation to resolve the questions independently of the conclusion reached by the trial court. Destiny 98 TD v. Miodowski, ante p. 427, 693 N.W.2d 278 (2005).

ANALYSIS

We first note that the case does not require us to resolve a conflict between the law of Nebraska and the law of Wyoming. The parties agree that Nebraska law, specifically § 44-6408, controls whether State Farm was required to provide UIM coverage. Thus, we turn to that statute.

Section 44-6408 provides:

(1) No policy insuring against liability imposed by law for bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death suffered by a natural person arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle within the United States, its territories or possessions, or Canada

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Blair v. State Farm Insurance
697 N.W.2d 266 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
697 N.W.2d 266, 269 Neb. 874, 2005 Neb. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blair-v-state-farm-insurance-neb-2005.