Hemphill v. Home Insurance Co.

174 S.E.2d 251, 121 Ga. App. 323, 1970 Ga. App. LEXIS 1215
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 6, 1970
Docket44782
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 174 S.E.2d 251 (Hemphill v. Home Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hemphill v. Home Insurance Co., 174 S.E.2d 251, 121 Ga. App. 323, 1970 Ga. App. LEXIS 1215 (Ga. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinions

Eberhardt, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether Daugherty was afforded liability insurance coverage by either Phoenix1 or Universal while operating the 1965 Chevrolet at the time of [327]*327the collision with the automobile occupied by plaintiffs. If he was afforded liability coverage by either, then the uninsured motorist coverage afforded by the other defendant companies would be unavailable to plaintiffs.2 See Code Ann. § 56-407.1.

Since we conclude that the trial court was correct in holding that the Phoenix policy did provide liability coverage, we find it unnecessary, as did the trial court, to deal with other defensive assertions made by the uninsured motorist carriers. The trial court did, however, rule that no liability coverage was afforded by Universal’s policy and sustained its motion for summary judgment as well as its motion to dismiss a cross claim filed against it by Georgia Farm Bureau. In view of our conclusion that Phoenix’ policy provided liability coverage to Daugherty, rendering any uninsured motorist coverage of plaintiffs unavailable, it is unnecessary to consider the contention of the uninsured motorist carriers that Universal’s policy also provided coverage; and, since plaintiffs are in accord with the trial court’s ruling with respect to Universal and have expressly abandoned any claim against it, it is unnecessary to review this ruling from the plaintiff’s standpoint. It would, of course, be necessary to consider whether there was coverage under Universal’s policy if, for any reason, we concluded that there was no -coverage under the Phoenix policy; for coverage under either would render the uninsured motorist coverage unavailable—but we do not reach that problem.

The issues with respect to Phoenix’ policy are (1) whether Daugherty was an omnibus permittee and thus an insured under the liability policy issued to Father Scholz; (2) whether the 1965 Chevrolet which Daugherty was driving at the time of collision with plaintiffs’ automobile was a “temporary substitute automobile” within the meaning of the policy; and (3) whether Daugherty’s operation of the automobile at the time of the collision was within the scope of Father Scholz’ and Walker’s permission.

[328]*3281. Phoenix’ policy provides that with respect to the “owned automobile” (which is defined by the policy as including a “temporary substitute automobile”), “The following are insureds under Part I [liability]: (1) the named insured [Father Scholz] and any resident of the same household, (2) any other person using such automobile with the permission of the named insured, provided his actual operation or (if he is not operating) his other actual use thereof is within the scope of such permission. .

It is undisputed that Father Scholz turned the Chevelle over to Son Scholz for general transportation purposes without restriction as to use, except that Son Scholz was not to let anyone else drive it. The initial question is whether, under these circumstances, Daugherty, was “using such automobile with the permission of” Father Scholz.

In Strickland v. Ga. Cas. &c. Co., 224 Ga. 487, supra, the Supreme Court had before it an omnibus clause which included as an additional insured “any person while using the automobile . . . , provided the actual use of the automobile is with the permission of [the named insured or his spouse].” In that case the named insured allowed Carter, one of his employees, to use his vehicle for certain purposes but had forbidden Williams, another employee, to drive it. At the time of the collision Williams was operating the vehicle with Carter as a passenger. The Supreme Court stated: “The question is raised as to whether or not coverage under the omnibus provision of the policy is extended where the vehicle is being used for a permitted purpose by a driver expressly prohibited from operating it. In our view the answer must be determined by the meaning of the words 'actual use’ as contained in the omnibus clause.” Equating “actual use” with “use,” the court held: “The word 'use’ has two meanings which are pertinent to this inquiry. In one sense it relates to the operation of the vehicle. In the other sense it relates to the purpose served by the vehicle. Appellee contends that the policy requires permission of the named insured in both senses before its coverage is extended. The appellant contends that the policy only requires permission for the purpose to be served. We hold that the contention of the appellant is correct.” P. 489. (Emphasis supplied).

[329]*329The Supreme Court thus clearly held that the permission required by the omnibus clause under consideration there related only to the purpose for which permission was given and not to the identity of the operator, and that coverage was extended under the omnibus clause provided the vehicle was being used for a permitted purpose by the “second permittee” notwithstanding the fact that he not only had no permission to operate it but had been expressly prohibited from doing so. Whether we agree with this ruling by the Supreme Court is irrelevant; we are bound by it, and we followed Strickland in Cotton States Mut. Ins. Co. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 118 Ga. App. 451 (164 SE2d 262), where we held: “Where the owner of a motor vehicle loaned it to another, a third person was using the vehicle with permission of the owner within the meaning of the omnibus clause of the owner’s automobile liability insurance policy provided it was being used for a permitted purpose, regardless of whether the third person had the owner’s express or implied permission to drive.”

The language of the omnibus clause in Cotton States was “any other person using such automobile, provided the actual use thereof is with the permission of the- named insured, and is within the scope of such permission.” The language in Strickland was “any person while using the automobile . . . , provided the actual use of the automobile is with the permission of [the named insured].” The language under consideration here is “any other person using such automobile with the permission of the named insured.” The question, then, is what “use with permission” means; and, under the authority of Strickland and Cotton States, we hold that the requisite permission relates only to the purpose for which permission was given and not to the identity of the operator. Hence Daugherty was an omnibus permittee and an additional insured if the automobile was being used for a permitted purpose at the time .of the collision, regardless of whether he had Father Scholz’ express or implied authorization to drive it. ' • ■

Plaintiffs contend, however, that the second clause of the omnibus provision in Phoenix’ policy distinguishes it from the omnibus clauses in Strickland and Cotton States, dictating a [330]*330different result. It is urged that this clause requires that the “driving or operation of the automobile must be with the permission of. the named insured”—i.e., permission relates to the identity of the operator. If the clause so read, there might be merit in this contention. However, the clause does not require that the actual operation must be with the permission of the named insured, but only within the scope of such permission. This is no more than was required in Strickland and Cotton States,

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Bluebook (online)
174 S.E.2d 251, 121 Ga. App. 323, 1970 Ga. App. LEXIS 1215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hemphill-v-home-insurance-co-gactapp-1970.