Hime v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

284 N.W.2d 829, 1979 Minn. LEXIS 1663
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 17, 1979
Docket48078
StatusPublished
Cited by59 cases

This text of 284 N.W.2d 829 (Hime v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hime v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 284 N.W.2d 829, 1979 Minn. LEXIS 1663 (Mich. 1979).

Opinions

WAHL, Justice.

Defendant State Farm Fire & Casualty Company appeals from the order for summary judgment and judgment of the Hen-nepin County District Court, which set aside the family exclusion clause and ordered State Farm to indemnify its insured, George Hime, for a judgment against him for damages suffered by his wife arising from an automobile accident in Minnesota. We affirm.

On December 5,1966, appellant issued an automobile insurance policy to respondent, a Florida resident. The policy recognized that the insured automobile would be principally garaged in Florida. It also contained the following intra-family liability exclusion, the enforceability of which is the subject of this litigation:

“[State Farm agrees] (1) To pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of (A) bodily injury by other persons * * *.
“[Exclusions] (1) coverage A, to bodily injury to the insured or to any member of the family of the insured residing in the same household as the insured * * *.”

The policy was renewed annually. Respondent and his wife resided at all times in the same Florida household.

On August 3,1972, automobiles driven by respondent and a Minnesota resident were involved in a two-car accident in Minnesota. Respondent’s wife, a passenger in respondent’s car, was seriously injured and commenced suit against both drivers in Minnesota court. Gladys Hime was awarded damages in the amount of $38,000, which were apportioned according to negligence in the amount of 60 percent or $22,800 against respondent, and 40 percent against the Minnesota driver. Appellant refused to defend or indemnify respondent because of the in-tra-family liability exclusion but paid Gladys Hime $4,424.25 in no-fault benefits pursuant to applicable Florida law.

Respondent commenced this indemnification action against appellant on June 11, 1976, prevailing in cross-motions for summary judgment before the trial court.

The issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in applying Minnesota law to render ineffective the Florida insurance contract clause that excluded automobile liability coverage for intra-family claims.

The jurisdiction of the Minnesota courts over this matter being conceded, we limit our review to the conflict of laws [832]*832question presented by this case.1 To resolve this conflict, we consider initially whether the contacts with Minnesota are sufficient to make application of Minnesota law consistent with due process. Such contacts must not be too slight and casual. See, Clay v. Sun Ins. Office, Ltd., 377 U.S. 179, 182, 84 S.Ct. 1197, 12 L.Ed.2d 229 (1964).

The contacts in this case arise both from the contract of insurance and from the tort, which initiates the insurer’s performance of the contract. We do not restrict our review to the contacts arising from the contract. To do so would be to ignore the unique nature of automobile liability insurance. As the Supreme Court has recognized:

“Insurance companies * * * do not confine their contractual activities and obligations within state boundaries. They sell to customers who are promised protection in States far away' from the place where the contract is made.” Clay v. Sun Ins. Office, Ltd., 363 U.S. 207, 221, 80 S.Ct. 1222, 1230, 4 L.Ed.2d 1170 (1960) (Black, J., dissenting), quoted in Clay v. Sun Ins. Office, Ltd., 377 U.S. 179, 182, 84 S.Ct. 1197, 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 229.2

Moreover, the automobile liability insurance contract contemplates the occurrence of a tort. The transaction is a hybrid, overlapping the laws of tort and contract. See, Allstate Insurance Co. v. Sullam, 76 Misc.2d 87, 349 N.Y.S.2d 550, 558 (1973).

The contacts with the State of Florida arise from the contract itself. The contract was issued in Florida to a Florida resident on a vehicle principally garaged in Florida. Presumably, the premiums were paid in Florida. The contacts with the State of Minnesota, however, are significant. The appellant is licensed to do business in Minnesota and is subject to suit in our courts. The accident occurred here and involved a Minnesota resident in a Minnesota vehicle. The non-resident who was injured was hospitalized and treated in this state. Suit against both drivers was commenced here, and the case was tried in the courts of this state. We find these contacts with Minnesota sufficient to ensure that application of Minnesota law in this case would not offend due process.

Having concluded that due process would not be violated by application of Min[833]*833nesota law, we apply our choice of law rules set forth in Milkovich v. Saari, 295 Minn. 155, 203 N.W.2d 408 (1973) to determine which law governs in this case.3 See, Schwartz v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. of Del., 300 Minn. 487, 221 N.W.2d 665, 668 (1974). Under Milkovich, policy considerations as well as contacts must be analyzed. Schwartz, 295 Minn. 155 at 493, 221 N.W.2d at 669. Five choice-influencing considerations are involved: (1) predictability of result; (2) maintenance of interstate and international order; (3) simplification of the judicial task; (4) advancement of the forum’s governmental interest; and (5) application of the better rule of law.

Unlike the typical tort case, where only advancement of the forum’s governmental interest and application of the better rule of law are relevant (see, e. g., Schwartz), this case, with traits of both torts and contract, requires consideration of all five factors, see, Hague v. Allstate Insurance Co. (Minn.1978), filed April 7, 1978.

(1)Predictability of Results.

As we observed in Hague, supra, the unplanned nature of automobile accidents lessens the importance of predictability of results in automobile insurance cases. Nevertheless, we note that the insured’s protection has no geographical boundaries, at least not under the policy before us, and it is foreseeable that the insured may meet his misfortune out of the state of issuance. It was neither unusual nor unpredictable that the insured in this case, a former Minnesota resident, returned to visit his former home and that his vehicle was involved in an accident there. As was the case in Clay v. Sun Ins. Office, Ltd., supra, the contract here in issue did not provide that the law of the issuing state would govern suits filed in other states. The transaction was not planned to have predictable results, and the .insurer is not now justified in expecting Florida law to govern absolutely in light of the extra-territorial effect and unique nature of the automobile insurance contract. As we said in Myers v. Government Employees Insurance Co., 302 Minn. 359, 365, 225 N.W.2d 238, 242 (1974), predictability of results applies primarily to consensual transactions where the parties desire advance notice of which state law will govern in future disputes. This is not such a case.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re HIV Antitrust Litigation
N.D. California, 2023
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. v. Traffic Tech, Inc.
60 F.4th 1144 (Eighth Circuit, 2023)
Courtney Godfrey v. State Farm Fire and Casualty
11 F.4th 601 (Eighth Circuit, 2021)
Hall v. St. Jude Med. S.C., Inc.
326 F. Supp. 3d 770 (D. Maine, 2018)
Joseph H. Whitney v. The Guys, Inc.
700 F.3d 1118 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)
Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. v. Belgrade Steel Tank Co.
823 N.W.2d 669 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2012)
Babinski v. American Family Insurance Group
543 F. Supp. 2d 1035 (D. Minnesota, 2008)
American States Insurance v. Allstate Insurance
922 A.2d 1043 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2007)
Nodak Mutual Insurance Co. v. Wamsley
2004 ND 174 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2004)
Jacobson v. Universal Underwriters Insurance Group
645 N.W.2d 741 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2002)
Ohayon v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Illinois
2001 Ohio 100 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2001)
Ohayon v. Safeco Insurance
747 N.E.2d 206 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2001)
Nodak Mutual Insurance Co. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co.
604 N.W.2d 91 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2000)
Great West Casualty Co. v. Hovaldt
1999 SD 150 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1999)
Nodak Mutual Insurance Co. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co.
590 N.W.2d 670 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1999)
Medical Graphics Corp. v. Hartford Fire Insurance
171 F.R.D. 254 (D. Minnesota, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
284 N.W.2d 829, 1979 Minn. LEXIS 1663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hime-v-state-farm-fire-casualty-co-minn-1979.