Davidson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. of Bloomington

373 N.W.2d 642, 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 4490
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedSeptember 3, 1985
DocketC1-85-351
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 373 N.W.2d 642 (Davidson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. of Bloomington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davidson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. of Bloomington, 373 N.W.2d 642, 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 4490 (Mich. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

HUSPENI, Judge.

Appellant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm) appeals from the trial court determination that respondent Jeanette E. Davidson was entitled to uninsured motorist benefits in connection with an automobile accident in which her husband, Dr. Duane Davidson, was killed, and that Mrs. Davidson could stack uninsured motorist benefits and economic loss benefits on six vehicles used by the Davidson family. We affirm.

FACTS

On December 10,1983, Dr. Davidson was killed in a head-on collision when the vehicle he was driving collided with a vehicle driven by Brian Holthusen.

Dr. Davidson was one of two medical doctors engaged in practice at the Thief River Falls Clinic (the Clinic) in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The Clinic was a professional corporation in which Dr. Davidson and his partner, Dr. Leo Herber, each owned fifty percent. Two cars were registered to the Clinic, a 1983 Chevrolet Ce *644 lebrity and a 1982 Chrysler. Davidson had the exclusive use of the Celebrity, the vehicle he was driving at the time of the accident. Herber had the exclusive use of the Chrysler. The vehicles were used for professional purposes and also served as family cars for the respective doctors. These vehicles were insured in a fleet policy issued by State Farm to the Clinic. The Clinic paid the insurance premiums for these two vehicles. Herber testified in his deposition that neither car was essential to the Clinic business. When a car was fully depreciated by the Clinic, the Clinic would transfer ownership of the vehicle to the doctor who had been driving it.

In addition to the Celebrity and Chrysler, seven other vehicles were also insured on the Clinic’s fleet policy. Relevant information regarding these vehicles is as follows:

1. 1979 Plymouth Horizon: title was in the name of the Clinic but at the time of the accident owned by Davidson as a result of a purchase from the Clinic; garaged at the Davidson home; and insurance premium paid by Davidson through check to the Clinic.

2. 1969 Plymouth stationwagon: owned by Davidson; garaged at his home; and insurance premium paid by Davidson through check to the Clinic.

3. 1959 Chevrolet two-ton truck: owned by Davidson; garaged at his home; and insurance premium paid by Davidson through check to the Clinic.

4. 1980 Renault: purchased by Davidson; title in the name of Davidson’s son and daughter-in-law, Clyde and Susan Davidson; garaged in Lincoln, Nebraska where they lived; vehicle also driven by two other Davidson children living in Lincoln; insurance premium paid by Davidson through check to the Clinic.

5. 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass: owned by Davidson; used by Davidson’s son, Dan, since August 1983 while attending school in California; insurance premium paid by Davidson through check to the Clinic.

6. Chevrolet Citation: title was in the name of the Clinic but purchased from the Clinic by Herber; insurance premium paid by Herber through check to the Clinic.

7.1967 Ford Convertible: owned by Herber’s son, George, who was attending school in Michigan; insurance premiums paid by Herber through check to the Clinic.

The fleet policy was first issued to the Clinic in 1974 upon the recommendation of State Farm’s agent. The agent testified that the fleet policy provided the convenience of one annual billing, and allowed vehicles to be added or dropped more conveniently than individual policies.

The named insured under the policy has been the Clinic since the policy was first written in 1974. Davidson and the Clinic’s business manager signed the insurance application which listed the Clinic as the named insured.

The agent testified that when he wrote the policy he assumed that the members of the Davidson family would have the benefits of a family policy. Herber also stated in his deposition that the fleet policy was intended to give his family and the Davidson family full coverage. Davidson and Herber selected the insurance coverage for the vehicles used by their respective families. The agent further testified that five of the Davidson vehicles on the fleet policy would qualify for a family policy issued by State Farm. In such a family policy, Davidson, at his discretion, would have been the named insured. Since the time the fleet policy was issued, neither Davidson nor Herber discussed with State Farm whether a family policy would provide better coverage.

The premiums charged by State Farm for each vehicle insured under the fleet policy were identical to the premiums charged for vehicles insured under individual policies. Separate premiums were charged for each vehicle and computed based on which family members would be driving each vehicle.

Each of the nine fleet policy vehicles had $50/$100,000 uninsured motorist coverage, $50,000 medical coverage and $10,000 economic loss benefits.

*645 At the time of the accident, Brian Hol-thusen was driving a Mercury Montego given to him by his stepfather. He was eighteen years old and was living with his grandfather, Reinhard Holthusen.

He owned two vehicles, a 1974 pickup truck and a 1978 Ford Fairmont. These vehicles were insured under two separate automobile policies also issued by State Farm. Each policy carried liability coverage of $50,000. The pickup truck was used on the farm for tasks such as hauling wood. At the time of the accident, the truck had been disabled for several months. Reinhard Holthusen’s testimony indicates that the truck “hardly ever went off the place. Well, it went off the place and down the road a mile or so and went in the woods. That’s about all.” His testimony further indicates that the Fairmont was the family’s highway car. Brian Holthu-sen’s testimony indicates, however, that the pickup truck was used occasionally for trips into town.

When Brian received the Montego in early 1982, it lacked a motor, transmission, and wheels. He testified that he wanted to fix up the Montego “so we could get rid of our Fairmont,” that the Fairmont was small and inconvenient, and that the Monte-go was never intended to replace the pickup because “[y]ou can’t haul wood with a car.”

The Montego was first in operating condition the day before the fatal collision. At the time of the collision, Brian was returning from Thief River Falls where he had gone the previous day to repair the taillights and headlights of the Montego. He testified that he also intended to see the State Farm agent about transferring insurance coverage from the pickup to the Mon-tego. He did not do so, howéver, and the Montego was not specifically insured at the time of the collision.

After the accident, State Farm originally determined that the Montego was uninsured, and denied coverage on the basis that the Montego did not qualify under either the Fairmont or pickup policies for coverage under the newly-acquired automobile clauses. Consequently, State Farm paid uninsured benefits to Mrs. Davidson. It also stacked basic economic loss benefits for five 1 of the vehicles on the fleet policy, resulting in payment to Mrs. Davidson of $29,513.01. Coverage on the Celebrity alone would have resulted in payment of $11,646.65 for economic loss benefits.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
373 N.W.2d 642, 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 4490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davidson-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-of-bloomington-minnctapp-1985.