Canal Insurance v. Ranger Insurance

489 F. Supp. 492, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12871
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedFebruary 21, 1980
DocketCiv. A. 78-1934
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 489 F. Supp. 492 (Canal Insurance v. Ranger Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Canal Insurance v. Ranger Insurance, 489 F. Supp. 492, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12871 (D.S.C. 1980).

Opinion

ORDER AND STIPULATION OF FACTS

HEMPHILL, Chief Judge.

Canal Insurance Company (Canal) is seeking to recover a pro-rata contribution from Ranger Insurance Company (Ranger) and Pan American Fire & Casualty Company (Pan American) for settlements made by Canal following an automobile accident in Florida. The parties have agreed to stipulate to the facts and submit the case on briefs to this court for decision. All pertinent papers have been filed, the matter is ready for decision, accordingly this court adopts the stipulation of facts and makes the following conclusions of law.

Stipulations of Fact

1. Canal, a South Carolina corporation, is seeking to recover a pro-rata contribution from Ranger, a New York corporation, and Pan American, a Texas corporation, for settlements made by Canal in the amount of $108,741.30 following an accident on August 30, 1974 in Florida.

2. At all material times herein, Aubrey E. Bohanon, Ocala, Florida, was the owner of Bo’s Thrift, Inc., a Florida corporation. As a part of its operations, Bo’s Thrift, Inc. operated Thrift Oil Company, a fuel oil business within a 50 mile radius of Ocala, several service stations in Ocala, Florida, and Bo’s Truck Lines, a long-haul trucking operation.

3. On June 12, 1974, Canal issued Policy No. 81 12 34 to Bo’s Thrift, Inc. The policy was endorsed as of July 18, 1974 to insure the interests of Bo’s Truck Lines and as of July 25, 1974, the named insured under the policy was amended to read Bo’s Truck Lines. This policy provided liability coverages of $100,000.00 for each person, $300,-000.00 for each accident, and $50,000.00 property damage.

4. On January 3, 1974, Ranger issued its policy CGA492180 to Bo’s Thrift, Inc. and Aubrey E. Bohanon, with liability limits of $100,000.00/$300,000.00/$100,000.00. On January 12, 1973, Pan American issued its policy RU232087 to Aubrey E. Bohanon and Bo’s Thrift Service, Inc. with liability limits of $1,000,000.00, being an umbrella policy and furnishing excess limits to the underlying Ranger policy.

5. On August 30, 1974, all three policies named above were in effect. On that date, a 1969 White tractor and a 1956 Brown trailer, owned by Bo’s Thrift, Inc., were being used to haul 405 cases of Mobil Motor Oil from Thrift Oil Company from Gaines-ville, Florida, to Ocala, Florida, a distance of about 35-40 miles. The tractor-trailer unit was being driven by Rufus Ramsey, an employee of Thrift Oil Company and, en route, Ramsey collided with an automobile occupied by two people, resulting in death to one and severe injuries to the other.

6. Following the accident, Canal understood the investigation of the accident and concluded that the driver Ramsey was at fault. With no knowledge of the existence of the Ranger and Pan American policies, Canal negotiated a compromise of the claims, paying a total of $108,741.30, of which $6,395.50 was property damage, and $102,345.80 was related to the death and personal injuries. In addition to this, Canal spent $765.49 in adjusting the losses.

7. The 1969 White tractor was listed on the Canal policy. The 1956 Brown trailer was not. Neither the tractor nor the trailer were listed on the Ranger or Pan American policies. Those policies provided comprehensive liability coverage which would apply to any vehicle owned or operated by their insured. The Ranger and Pan American policies also were gross receipts basis policies, meaning that an initial premium would be charged, and later the insured’s business would be audited to determine gross receipts, and the final premium would be adjusted annually, based upon the gross receipts of the insured during the period. There is no question but that the Canal policy covered the tractor involved in the *495 accident. It did not cover the trailer, but no policy defense was raised about this. The Ranger policy’s schedule of automobile coverages provides coverages for owned automobiles, hired automobiles, and non-owned automobiles, so long as these were used for purposes permitted by the policy. The Pan American umbrella policy simply tracked the coverage of the Ranger policy and would provide for the same coverages as the Ranger policy.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

A. This action was brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, alleging that diversity of citizenship exists between the parties and the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of $10,000. The stipulations of fact support this court’s jurisdiction over the matter.

B. Ranger cannot exclude the tractor-trailer unit from its policy coverage on the grounds that the unit was not listed in the schedule of insured vehicles. The policy defines an “automobile", in part as, “a trailer or semi-trailer designed for travel on public roads (including any machinery or apparatus attached thereto) . . .. ” Thus the vehicle involved in the accident would be considered an automobile. However the vehicle owned by Bo’s Thrift, Inc. was not listed on the schedule of “Owned Automobiles” in the Ranger policy. Whether Ranger must cover the loss despite this omission, involves a question of what Ranger contracted to insure. In Section I, the policy stated that Ranger would pay all sums the “insured” is legally obligated to pay insofar as they are “caused by an occurrence and aris[e] out of the ownership, maintenance or use, ... , of any automobile.” (Emphasis deleted and added.) By this language Ranger has agreed to insure “all risks” relating to automobile use, maintenance or ownership, which means that Ranger must show that an exclusion omits the unscheduled automobiles. None exists, [Section I(a)-(f)] and defendants do not claim that their contractual duties have been nullified by fraud or a material misrepresentation. Thus the vehicle comes within the coverage.

Defendants contend that no premium was collected for the unlisted vehicle, but this court is not so sure. The policy itself shows that premiums are based upon an annual audit, an audit of the insured’s business during the preceding year, and the premium initially paid is only an advance toward the final premium. The audit, when conducted, would consider the gross receipts of the company during the year. There is nothing to indicate that Ranger failed to charge a premium for this tractor-trailer unit.

Defendants also point out that Bo’s Thrift would not intend to create double coverage by taking out more insurance policies than it needed. Perhaps it would not so intend, but the contractual language indicates it did, an occurrence which is not at all uncommon especially where the use of equipment is covered by various policies.

C. The named insureds under the Ranger and Pan American policies were Aubrey E. Bohanon and Bo’s Thrift, Inc. The insureds operated a variety of businesses under various names, using numerous vehicles for varying purposes. As stated in the stipulations of facts, one of the wholly owned subsidiaries was Thrift Oil, a fuel oil business operating within a fifty mile radius of Ocala, Florida. Another subsidiary was Bo’s Truck Lines which handled long-haul trucking operations, defined as hauls in excess of 50 miles. Defendants contend that the accident occurred while the truck was engaged in the business of Bo’s Truck Lines, an activity which, it is claimed, would not be an “insured” activity under the policy.

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

Related

North River Insurance v. United National Insurance
172 A.D.2d 46 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1991)
Floyd v. Ohio General Insurance
701 F. Supp. 1177 (D. South Carolina, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
489 F. Supp. 492, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12871, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/canal-insurance-v-ranger-insurance-scd-1980.