Castaneda v. Progressive Classic Insurance

166 S.W.3d 556, 357 Ark. 345, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 282
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 6, 2004
Docket03-1258
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 166 S.W.3d 556 (Castaneda v. Progressive Classic Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Castaneda v. Progressive Classic Insurance, 166 S.W.3d 556, 357 Ark. 345, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 282 (Ark. 2004).

Opinions

Jim Hannah, Justice.

Appellant Dora Castaneda petitions for stice. of appeals decision affirming the Benton County Circuit Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee Progressive Classic Insurance Company. See Castaneda v. Progressive Classic Ins. Co., 83 Ark. App. 267, 125 S.W.3d 835 (October 22, 2003). We granted Ms. Castaneda’s petition for review of this decision pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 2-4 (2003). We find no error and, accordingly, we affirm the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment.

Facts

On August 6, 2001, Ms. Castaneda was injured while riding as a passenger in an automobile covered by her insurance policy. Ms. Castaneda’s son Aaron Castaneda was driving the automobile at the time of the accident. Their car was stopped at a traffic light and was rear-ended by an uninsured negligent driver. Ms. Castaneda alleged that she suffered injury as a result of the uninsured driver’s negligence, and she sought recovery for her injuries under the uninsured-motorist coverage of her Progressive insurance policy. Progressive denied Ms. Castaneda’s claim on the ground that the vehicle was operated by Aaron, who was a named-excluded driver under the policy.

Ms. Castaneda sued Progressive in circuit court for $25,000 in uninsured-motorist benefits. Progressive answered that at the time of the collision, the vehicle was operated by an excluded driver and pursuant to the policy’s language, there is no coverage. Ms. Castaneda amended her complaint to assert that the policy’s named-driver exclusion applied only if Aaron was at fault, which was not the case here, and that it would be against public policy to interpret the exclusionary clause in any other manner.

Progressive moved for summary judgment, relying on the express terms in the policy. The insurance policy’s named-driver exclusion, which Ms. Castaneda signed, stated:

You have named the following persons as excluded drivers under this policy. NAME OF EXCLUDED DRIVER DATE OF BIRTH AARON CASTANEDA 01/13/86
No coverage is provided for any claim arising from an accident or loss that occurs while a covered vehicle or non-owned vehicle is operated by the excluded driver(s). THIS INCLUDES ANY CLAIM FOR DAMAGES MADE AGAINST YOU, A RELATIVE, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ORGANIZATION THAT IS VICARIOUSLY LIABLE FOR AN ACCIDENT ARISING OUT OF THE OPERATION OF A COVERED VEHICLE OR NON-OWNED VEHICLE BY THE EXCLUDED DRIVER. ‘

The policy’s general provisions stated:

If you have asked us to exclude any person from coverage under this Policy, then we will not provide coverage for any claim arising from an accident or loss involving a covered vehicle or non-owned vehicle that occurs while it is being operated by the excluded person. THIS INCLUDES ANY CLAIM FOR DAMAGES MADE AGAINST YOU, A RELATIVE, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ORGANIZATION THAT IS VICARIOUSLY LIABLE FOR AN ACCIDENT ARISING OUT OF THE OPERATION OF A COVERED VEHICLE OR NON-OWNED VEHICLE BY THE EXCLUDED DRIVER.

The uninsured-motorist-bodily-injury coverage provision stated:

Subject to the Limits of Liability, if you pay a premium for Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverage, we will pay for damages, other than punitive or exemplary damages, which an insured person is entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury:
1. sustained by an insured person;
2. caused by accident; and
3. arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle.

In response to the motion for summary judgment, Ms. Castaneda argued that summary judgment was inappropriate because the exclusionary clause was ambiguous and that it and the . uninsured-motorist provisions of the insurance policy did not adequately reject the uninsured-motorist coverage as required by Arkansas law. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Progressive, finding that the insurance policy was plain and unambiguous and that the exclusion for coverage does not violate public policy and must therefore be enforced.

On appeal, Ms. Castaneda argues that the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment because the named-driver exclusion in her insurance policy directly conflicts with the Arkansas Uninsured Motorist Statute and creates an internal ambiguity within the policy which should be resolved in her favor. Further, she contends that summary judgment was inappropriate in this case because applying the named-driver exclusion of Aaron Castaneda as a rejection of her uninsured-motorist benefits violates the public policy of Arkansas.

Standard of Review

When this court grants a petition for review of a decision by the court of appeals, this court reviews the appeal as if it had been originally filed in this court. See Hisaw v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 353 Ark. 668, 122 S.W.3d 1 (2003). Our standard of review for summary judgment cases is well established. Ginsburg v. Ginsburg, 353 Ark. 816, 120 S.W.3d 567 (2003). Summary judgment should only be granted when it is clear that there are no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. The purpose of summary judgment is not to try the issues, but to determine whether there are any issues left to be tried. Id.

Once the moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. George v. Jefferson Hosp. Ass’n, Inc., 337 Ark. 206, 987 S.W.2d 710 (1999). On appellate review, we determine if summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of its motion leave a material fact unanswered. Id. This court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences against the moving party. Adams v. Arthur, 333 Ark. 53, 969 S.W.2d 598 (1998). When the facts are not at issue but possible inferences therefrom are, we will consider whether those inferences can be reasonably drawn from the undisputed facts and whether reasonable minds differ on those hypotheses. Flentje v. First Nat’l Bank of Wynne, 340 Ark. 563, 11 S.W.3d 531 (2000).

Construction of Insurance Contract

Ms. Castaneda contends that the named-driver exclusion is ambiguous because it did not expressly state that uninsured-motorist coverage was not available to a named insured for injuries sustained when the excluded driver was operating the vehicle.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 S.W.3d 556, 357 Ark. 345, 2004 Ark. LEXIS 282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/castaneda-v-progressive-classic-insurance-ark-2004.