Erie Insurance Exch. v. Montesano, C.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided February 24, 2022·No. 262 EDA 2021·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

ERIE INSURANCE EXCHANGE : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant :

:

:

v. :

:

:

CHRISTIANA MONTESANO, : No. 262 EDA 2021 ANTHONY MONTESANO, AND DONNA :

MONTESANO :

Appeal from the Judgment Entered March 30, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Civil Division at No(s): No. 2016-13318

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., DUBOW, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.* MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 24, 2022 Erie Insurance Exchange (Erie) appeals from the judgment,1 entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, in favor of Appellees,2 Christiana Montesano, Anthony Montesano, and Donna Montesano

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1While Erie purports to appeal from the December 31, 2020 order denying its motion for post-trial relief, the appeal properly lies from the subsequent entry of judgment on the trial court’s verdict. See U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Pautenis, 118 A.3d 386, 388 n.2 (Pa. Super. 2015) (providing appeal to Superior Court can only lie from judgment entered after trial court’s disposition of post-verdict motions, not from order denying post-trial motions). We have amended the caption accordingly.

2 The trial court dismissed Erie’s claims against defendant, GEICO General Insurance Company, on October 27, 2016, when it granted GEICO’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Thus, GEICO is not a party to the instant appeal.

(collectively, Appellees), after the trial court entered a verdict in favor of Appellees in the amount of $200,000.00. Because the trial court correctly concluded that Christiana is a “resident,” as defined by Erie’s insurance policy, we affirm.

Christiana’s father, Anthony, and Christiana’s mother, Doris Krupp, divorced when Christiana was two years old. Christiana lived with Anthony and her step-mother, Donna, in their Boyertown, Montgomery County residence (Boyertown Home), from her birth through her graduation from high school in 2013. Christiana would visit Krupp, who lives in Mims, Florida, for one month every summer and for one week every other Christmas.

At the time of the underlying accident, Anthony and Donna owned three motor vehicles; each vehicle was insured by Erie under a Family Auto Insurance Policy (Policy). Under the Policy, the term “resident” is defined as “a person who physically lives with ‘you’ in ‘your’ household on a regular basis.” Erie Insurance Policy, 2/14/13, at 4. The Policy also states that “‘[y]our’ unmarried, unemancipated children attending school full time, living away from home, will be considered ‘residents’ of ‘your’ household.” Id.

On August 3, 2013, following an argument3 with Anthony and Donna and without their knowledge, Christiana left the Boyertown Home and flew to

3 Christiana testified that the argument stemmed from her seeing an older paramour that Anthony and Donna did not approve of and Christiana lying to them about staying at a girlfriend’s house for the weekend, when she was with the paramour. Id. at 23; see id. at 82 (Donna testifying that “they had an (Footnote Continued Next Page)

Mims, Florida, and stayed with Krupp. Christiana had not talked to Krupp since 2011.4 Christiana took “[s]ome clothing and a couple of shoes, deodorant, [a] toothbrush, toothpaste[, and] underwear” from the Boyertown Home with her to Florida. N.T. Non-Jury Trial, 3/2/20, at 26. Christiana did not take her computer or any jewelry to Florida and did not make any arrangements to have those items shipped from the Boyertown Home to Florida.5 Christiana retained her key to the Boyertown Home and continued to receive mail there. Id. at 91.

In Florida, Christiana slept on the couch in Krupp’s two-bedroom trailer home, with Christiana’s two sisters and five dogs and three cats, for approximately one month. N.T. Non-Jury Trial, 3/2/20, at 26. While in Florida, Christiana obtained a state-issued driver’s license and registered to vote.

argument about the fact that she had lied as to where she was and who she was with, [and with] whom she had spent the weekend.”). Christiana also testified that because Anthony and Donna told her they “couldn’t trust [her] on foot, [then they] they couldn’t’ trust [her] in a car, so they weren’t going to take [her] for [her] license.” Id. at 23; Id. 82 (Donna testifying she and Anthony did not trust Christiana after she lied to them so they would not let her get driver’s license).

4 Christiana testified that the reason she had not spoken to her mother in years was because her mother got upset with her after Christiana told her father that her sister planned to stay in Florida with her mother after they last visited in 2011. N.T. Non-Jury Trial, 3/2/20, at 24, 25.

5 At the time she left to go to Florida, Christiana had a Pennsylvania-state- issued driver’s learning permit.

“Seeking a change of scenery,” id. at 29, Christiana left Krupp’s home in September 2013 to visit her maternal grandparents in Warrior, Alabama. Id. Upon her arrival in Alabama, Christiana obtained an Alabama-state-issued driver’s license, transferred her voter registration, and purchased a new month-to-month cell phone plan through an Alabama wireless service provider. Christiana’s grandmother, Robin Lee Jafolla (Jafolla), permitted Christiana to drive the Jafollas’ vehicle, which was insured by GEICO. Christiana had her own bedroom in the Jafollas’ house and worked part-time in a local retail store. Although Christiana considered getting a massage therapy license in Alabama and received mail from local technical schools at the Jafollas’ home, she did not enroll in any program in Alabama. Id. at 32.

In early December 2013, Christiana returned, with Krupp, to Boyertown, Pennsylvania, to be deposed in an unrelated lawsuit. During this visit, Christiana stayed at a hotel. Christiana did, however, visit the Boyertown Home for dinner. At dinner, Christiana reconciled with Anthony and Donna and told them that she “wanted to come back home.” Id. at 38. Christiana decided that she would take her scheduled flight back to Alabama to retrieve her personal items and then return to the Boyertown Home sometime in January. Id. at 39, 44, 46.

Christiana returned to Alabama after her short visit to Pennsylvania and decided to drive back to Florida with Krupp from Alabama after they celebrated the Christmas holiday with the Jafollas. Christiana planned to fly home to Pennsylvania from Orlando on January 8, 2014. Id. at 41, 48, 81. However,

on her drive to Florida on January 2, 2014, Christiana sustained injuries in a motor vehicle accident near Tallahassee, Florida, while a passenger in Krupp’s Dodge Caravan.6 Following the accident, Christiana presented a claim for underinsured motorist benefits (UIM) to Erie under the Policy. Erie investigated Christiana’s claim for UIM benefits and ultimately concluded that Christiana did not qualify as a “resident” of the Boyertown Home because she had not been physically living there on a regular basis at the time of the accident.7 On July 1, 2016, Erie filed a declaratory judgment action seeking interpretation of the Policy and a determination that, pursuant to the language of the Policy, Erie was not obligated to provide UIM coverage to Christiana. On September 15, 2016, Appellees filed a response to Erie’s complaint and asserted a counterclaim for declaratory relief. Appellees asserted a right to

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Erie Insurance Exch. v. Montesano, C., (Pa. Ct. App. 2022).

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