Bogey's Trucking & Paving, Inc. v. INDIAN HARBOR INS.

928 A.2d 96, 395 N.J. Super. 59
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJuly 19, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 928 A.2d 96 (Bogey's Trucking & Paving, Inc. v. INDIAN HARBOR INS.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bogey's Trucking & Paving, Inc. v. INDIAN HARBOR INS., 928 A.2d 96, 395 N.J. Super. 59 (N.J. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

928 A.2d 96 (2007)
395 N.J. Super. 59

BOGEY'S TRUCKING & PAVING, INC. and David Whitfield, Plaintiffs-Respondents,
v.
INDIAN HARBOR INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Respondent, and
ARI Insurance Companies, Defendant-Appellant, and
Charles A. Stecker, Jr., Intervenor-Respondent.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Argued March 13, 2007.
Decided July 19, 2007.

*97 Mauro C. Casci, Leonardo, argued the cause for appellant (Law Offices of Mauro C. Casci, attorneys; Russell Macnow, on the brief).

Michael P. Albano, Runnemede, argued the cause for respondents Bogey's Trucking & Paving, Inc. and David Whitfield (Ragonese, Albano & Viola, attorneys; Mr. Albano, on the brief).

Jeffrey N. German, Marlton, argued the cause for respondent Indian Harbor Insurance Company.

Susan L. Moreinis, Collingswood, argued the cause for intervenor-respondent Charles A. Stecker, Jr.

Before Judges SKILLMAN, HOLSTON, JR. and GRALL.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

*98 GRALL, J.A.D.

Defendant ARI Insurance Companies (ARI) appeals from orders entered on motions for summary judgment in this action for declaratory judgment on insurance coverage. The plaintiffs are Bogey's Trucking and Paving, Inc. (Bogey's) and its employee, David Whitfield. ARI insures Bogey's under a business automobile policy. Defendant Indian Harbor Insurance Company (Indian Harbor) insures Bogey's under a comprehensive general liability (CGL) policy. Intervenor Charles Stecker is an uninsured motorist.

Frank Gaidosh was struck by an automobile and filed a complaint alleging that his injuries were caused by the negligence of Bogey's, Whitfield and Stecker. Bogey's and Whitfield commenced this action after both ARI and Indian Harbor denied a duty to defend or indemnify. The trial court determined that ARI, not Indian Harbor, must defend and indemnify Bogey's, and ARI must provide uninsured motorist coverage to Gaidosh.[1]

There are two coverage disputes at issue on this appeal: 1) whether the responsibility to defend and indemnify Bogey's and Whitfield is shared by ARI and Indian Harbor; 2) whether ARI must provide uninsured motorist coverage. Because the trial court's interpretation of the policy provisions at issue is correct, we affirm.

The accident occurred at approximately 5:00 p.m. on January 9, 2002. Gaidosh was employed on a construction site, and Bogey's had assigned Whitfield to deliver stone to that site. Whitfield delivered the stone in a dump truck insured under the business automobile policy ARI issued. Gaidosh rode in the dump truck in order to show Whitfield where to leave the stone. They traveled to the spot, which was off the southbound side of a public roadway. It was getting dark, and the truck's headlights and emergency flashers were on. Offering to direct Whitfield while he turned the truck to dump the stone, Gaidosh left the vehicle. Although the truck was equipped with a flashlight and a reflective vest, Whitfield did not offer the gear to Gaidosh, who was dressed in dark-colored clothing.

Whitfield started a "K-turn." Traffic in the southbound lane stopped. Whitfield saw a car that was not "moving that fast" approaching in the northbound lane. He continued his turn and heard a "crash" when a car, which was driven by Stecker, struck Gaidosh.[2] According to Whitfield, Gaidosh left the truck about five seconds before the accident.

The business automobile policy issued to Bogey's by ARI under which the dump truck was insured provides the following coverage:

We will pay all sums an "insured" legally must pay as damages because of *99 "bodily injury" or "property damage" to which this insurance applies, caused by an "accident" and resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use of a covered "auto."

Our courts read the policy language emphasized above to afford the coverage required by N.J.S.A. 39:6B-1a, which is coverage for property damage and injury "arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation or use of" the covered vehicle. Ibid. (emphasis added); see Home State Ins. Co. v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 313 N.J.Super. 584, 587, 713 A.2d 557 (App. Div.1998), aff'd o.b., 158 N.J. 104, 726 A.2d 1289 (1999).

The Indian Harbor policy expressly excludes coverage for claims for bodily injury or property damage "arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use or entrustment to others of any . . . `auto' . . . owned or operated by or rented or loaned to any insured. Use includes operation and `loading or unloading'."

ARI's policy provides uninsured motorist coverage for the benefit of anyone "occupying" a covered "auto." "Occupying" is defined by the policy as "in, upon, getting in, on, out or off."

I

Because ARI no longer disputes its obligation to defend and indemnify Bogey's and Whitfield, we consider ARI's claim that Indian Harbor's CGL policy provides overlapping coverage.[3] ARI argues that Indian Harbor's exclusion of coverage for claims related to vehicles must be construed narrowly in favor of the insured to provide coverage for injuries Gaidosh sustained as a consequence of Whitfield's negligent failure to provide him with reflective gear.

"While we look for the probable intent of the parties and their reasonable expectations in construing insurance policies and construe exclusionary clauses in strict fashion, when the language of an insurance policy is clear, we must enforce its terms as written." Conduit and Found. Corp. v. Hartford Cas. Ins. Co., 329 N.J.Super. 91, 99, 746 A.2d 1053 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 165 N.J. 135, 754 A.2d 1212 (2000). As noted above, Indian Harbor's policy excludes coverage for claims based on bodily injury "arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use or entrustment to others of any . . . `auto' . . . owned or operated by . . . any insured."

Exclusionary language substantially identical to that at issue here has been applied in numerous cases involving claims under CGL and homeowners policies, which commonly exclude coverage for claims related to motor vehicles. See, e.g., id. at 100-09, 746 A.2d 1053 (applying an exclusionary provision of a CGL policy and discussing cases involving similar clauses in CGL and homeowners policies). In addition, because the language tracks N.J.S.A. 39:6B-1a, which defines coverage that must be included in every motor vehicle insurance policy, it also has been discussed and applied in decisions addressing claims for coverage under policies of motor vehicle insurance. In Conduit, we observed that there is no basis to give the language different meaning depending *100 upon whether it is employed to describe covered or excluded claims. 329 N.J.Super. at 101, 746 A.2d 1053; see Westchester Fire Ins. Co. v. Cont'l Ins. Cos., 126 N.J.Super. 29, 41-42, 312 A.2d 664 (App. Div.1973) (describing the clauses appearing in provisions defining covered and excluded claims as "mutually exclusive"), aff'd o.b., 65 N.J. 152, 319 A.2d 732 (1974). Thus, the boundary between claims that do and do not "aris[e] out of the ownership, maintenance, use or entrustment to others of" a motor vehicle, while fact specific, is fairly well-defined by decisions of our courts.

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Bluebook (online)
928 A.2d 96, 395 N.J. Super. 59, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bogeys-trucking-paving-inc-v-indian-harbor-ins-njsuperctappdiv-2007.