Grange Mutual Casualty Co., Mark Madejek, and Alice Blaisdell v. Estate of Stephen P. Stetz, by Jeffrey and Dana Stetz, Personal Representatives

92 N.E.3d 676
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 28, 2018
Docket71A05-1708-CT-1720
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 92 N.E.3d 676 (Grange Mutual Casualty Co., Mark Madejek, and Alice Blaisdell v. Estate of Stephen P. Stetz, by Jeffrey and Dana Stetz, Personal Representatives) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grange Mutual Casualty Co., Mark Madejek, and Alice Blaisdell v. Estate of Stephen P. Stetz, by Jeffrey and Dana Stetz, Personal Representatives, 92 N.E.3d 676 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Kirsch, Judge.

*678 [1] Jeffrey and Dana Stetz, as Personal Representatives for the Estate of Stephen P. Stetz (together, "the Estate") filed suit against Grange Mutual Casualty Co. ("Grange") seeking coverage for their deceased son, Stephen P. Stetz ("Stephen"), who died from injuries he sustained after being hit, while a pedestrian, by an uninsured motorist. The Estate and Grange each filed a motion for summary judgment, and, after a hearing, the trial court granted the Estate's motion, finding that Grange was liable for coverage. Grange appeals and raises the following restated issued: whether the trial court properly found that Stephen was a covered family member under his parents' automobile policy and granted summary judgment in favor of the Estate and against Grange.

[2] We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[3] Jeffrey and Dana Stetz ("Parents") are residents of Uniontown, Ohio. Stephen was born in 1988 in Michigan, and when he was six or seven years old, the family moved to Uniontown. Stephen graduated from high school in nearby Akron, Ohio, and he thereafter attended Holy Cross College in South Bend, Indiana, graduating in 2012. After college, Stephen moved back to Parents' home in Uniontown and obtained a job with North American Breweries, where he had an assigned sales territory in nearby Kent, Ohio. He lived and worked out of Parents' home. In April or May 2014, Stephen obtained and began a new sales job with Chicago Beverage, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. He signed a one-year lease on an apartment in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago, and when that expired, he signed a lease and moved to another apartment in the Chicago area.

[4] In August 2015, Parents renewed their Personal Auto Policy Ohio ("the Policy") with Grange, for the period of August 26, 2015 to February 26, 2016. Appellant's App Vol. II at 82. The Declarations page identifies the Policy as a Family Auto policy type and identifies the named insured and address as: Jeffrey Stetz and Dana Stetz of "1889 White Chapel Cir NW Uniontown OH 44685." Id. The Policy listed and covered five vehicles, including a 2004 Honda Civic and a 2008 Honda Civic, and all five of the vehicles were owned by Parents, were registered in Ohio, and had Ohio license plates. The Policy's Rating Information Page listed four drivers, namely Jeffrey, Dana, Stephen, and his older sister. Id. at 87. Stephen began driving the 2004 Civic when he was a senior in high school and continued driving it other than when it was being repaired, when he drove the 2008 Civic. Stephen did not own his own vehicle.

[5] With regard to uninsured motorists coverage, the Policy provides in relevant part:

PART C-UNINSURED MOTORISTS COVERAGE
(Includes Underinsured Motorists Coverage)
Insuring Agreement
A. We will pay damages which an insured is legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of:
*679 1. Bodily Injury sustained by the insured and caused by an accident; and
2. Property damage ...
The owner's or operator's liability for these damages must arise out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the uninsured motor vehicle ....
B. "Insured" as used in this Part means:
1. You or any family member .
2. Any family member who does not own a motor vehicle.
3. Any other person while occupying your covered auto with a reasonable belief that that person is entitled to do so, if that person is not insured for Uninsured Motorists Coverage under another policy.

Id. at 105. The Policy excludes uninsured coverage as follows:

Exclusions
A. We do not provide Uninsured Motorists Coverage for bodily injury sustained by any person.
...
6. When the person actually suffering the bodily injury , sickness, disease, or death is not an insured under the policy.

Id. at 106. The Policy provides the following relevant definitions:

DEFINITIONS
A. The terms defined below appear in bold type throughout this policy. You and Your refer to the named insured, which includes the individual named on the Declarations page or that person's spouse if a resident of the same household....
B. "We", "us" and "our" refer to Grange Mutual Casualty Company.
....
F. "Family member" means a person related to you by blood, marriage or adoption and whose principal residence is at the location shown in the Declarations . If a court has adjudicated that one parent is the custodial parent, that adjudication shall be conclusive with respect to the minor child's principal residence.

Id. at 97 (bold in original; emphasis added with underlining). The Policy does not define the words "principal" or "residence."

[6] On October 15, 2015, Stephen was in South Bend, and, as a pedestrian, he was struck by a vehicle driven by Mark Madejek ("Madejek"). Madejek was operating a vehicle owned by his mother, Alice Blaisdell ("Blaisdell"). Stephen died from his injuries on October 23, 2015. Madejek was uninsured, and Blaisdell did not have any insurance that applied to the vehicle Madejek was driving.

[7] Following his death, Parents opened an estate in the St. Joseph County probate court for the administration of the Estate. 2 On November 20, 2015, the Estate filed suit in the St. Joseph Circuit Court against Madejek and Blaisdell for the wrongful death of Stephen, and it amended the complaint in February 2016 to add Grange as a defendant, seeking uninsured motorists coverage. 3 Id. at 16-20. More specifically, the Estate's Complaint alleged that Stephen was an insured family member under the Policy. Grange's Answer maintained that Stephen's principal residence was in *680

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Bluebook (online)
92 N.E.3d 676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grange-mutual-casualty-co-mark-madejek-and-alice-blaisdell-v-estate-of-indctapp-2018.