Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co. v. Mitchell

285 F. Supp. 969, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9227
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 5, 1968
DocketCiv. 66-100
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 285 F. Supp. 969 (Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co. v. Mitchell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co. v. Mitchell, 285 F. Supp. 969, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9227 (illinoised 1968).

Opinion

JUERGENS, Chief Judge.

MEMORANDUM AND JUDGMENT

By this declaratory judgment action, the Court is called upon to determine the rights, obligations and liabilities of Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company, a corporation, hereinafter referred to as “Lumbermens”; Allstate Insurance Company, hereinafter referred to as “Allstate”; Bonnie Mitchell; Thomas P. O’Donnell, Administrator of the Estate of Viola Huckenstine, deceased; Matthews Chevrolet Company; and Michael Bresnahan, under the provisions of a policy of insurance issued by Lumbermens and a policy issued by Allstate.

The cause is submitted on a stipulation of facts. Plaintiff is a citizen of the State of Indiana; none of the defendants are citizens of that state; and the amount in controversy fairly exceeds the sum of $10,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs.

On September 13, 1963, Matthews Chevrolet Company loaned one of its automobiles to Michael Bresnahan for his use while his own 1963 Chevrolet automobile, which he had recently purchased from Matthews, was being repaired. On September 13, 1963, while driving the loaned automobile, Bresnahan, accompanied by two passengers, struck a bridge railing, resulting in the death of one of his passengers and injury to the other.

The injured passenger brought suit in the Circuit Court of Madison County, Illinois, against Bresnahan and Matthews Chevrolet Company. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Matthews Chevrolet Company and against Bresnahan for the sum of $18,000.00.

Suit was filed in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, Illinois, by the estate of the deceased passenger. This case is still pending.

At the time of the occurrence out of which this cause arises, Lumbermens by an Automobile Garage Liability Policy insured Matthews Chevrolet Company. At the time of the incident Allstate had insured Michael Bresnahan as the owner of a 1963 Chevrolet.

Subsequent to the accident, both Lumbermens and Allstate were notified. Each made an investigation. Each insurance company took the position that it was the responsibility of the other to defend Michael Bresnahan. On several occasions Allstate called upon Lumbermens to assume the defense of Bresnahan. Lumbermens furnished defense to Matthews Chevrolet Company, its insured, but consistently refused to furnish a defense to Bresnahan. Upon refusal by Lumbermens to furnish the requested defense, Allstate furnished and is furnishing a defense for Bresnahan in both the injury and the death case.

At all times material, the Financial Responsibility Law of the State of Illinois, among other provisions, specified minimum limits of liability coverage of $10,000.00 because of bodily injury to or death of any one person in any one accident, $20,000.00 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and $5,000.00 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.

Lumbermens’ policy issued to Matthews Chevrolet Company was, at all times pertinent, amended by Endorsement AL8522 which provided for limited coverage for certain insured and is in part as follows:

“In consideration of the reduced rate of premium made applicable to the insurance under Part 1, it is agreed that the policy is amended as follows:
1. Paragraph 3 of ‘Persons Insured’ is amended to read as follows, and Paragraphs 4 and 5 below are added, all subject to exceptions (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) as set forth in the policy.
*971 ‘(3) With respect to an automobile to which the insurance applies under paragraph 1(a) of the Automobile Hazards, any of the following persons while using such automobile with the permission of the named insured, provided such person’s actual operation or (if he is not operating) his other actual use thereof is within the scope of such permission:
(a) any employee, director or stockholder of the named insured, any partner therein and any resident of the same household as the named insured, such employee, director, stockholder or partner,
(b) any other person, but only if no other valid and collectible automobile liability insurance, either primary or excess, with limits of liability at least equal to the minimum limits specified by the financial responsibility law of the state in which the automobile is principally garaged, is available to such person; * * * ’
2. Paragraph 1. (a), (b) and (c) of ‘Limits of Liability’ under Part 1 is made subject to the following provision :
‘Provided that with respect to a person described as insured under paragraph (3) (b) of Persons Insured and any person or organization legally responsible for the use of the automobile by such person, other than the named insured and any person or organization described in paragraph (3) (a) of Persons Insured,
(i) the applicable limit of the company’s liability shall be the amount by which (1) the applicable minimum limit of liability for bodily injury or property damage specified in the financial responsibility law of the state in which the automobile is principally garaged exceeds (2) the sum of the applicable limits of liability under all other valid and collectible insurance available to the insured, and
(ii) the insurance under this policy shall not apply to any loss with respect to which the insured has other valid and collectible insurance unless the total amount of the loss exceeds the sum of the limits of liability of all other policies affording such other insurance and the company shall then be liable, subject to clause (i) foregoing, only for the excess.’ ”

Liability coverage provided in the policy is in the amount of $100,000.00 for each person and $300,000.00 for each accident for bodily injury liability, and $25,000.00 for each accident for property damage liability.

Allstate’s policy insured Michael J. Bresnahan for a 1963 Chevrolet and also provided coverage, in addition to the owned automobile, for a “temporary substitute automobile.” “Temporary substitute automobile” is defined in the policy as follows:

“ ‘Temporary substitute automobile’ means any automobile, including a trailer, while temporarily used as a substitute for the owned automobile or trailer when withdrawn from normal use because of its breakdown, repair, servicing, loss or-destruction;”.

Coverage for a temporary substitute automobile, Allstate’s policy provides as follows:

“Allstate shall not be liable under this Part 1 for a greater proportion of any loss than the applicable limit of liability stated on the Supplement Page bears to the total applicable limit of liability of all collectible insurance against such loss; provided, however, the insurance with respect to a temporary substitute automobile or a non-owned automobile shall be excess insurance over any other collectible insurance.”

The amount of coverage provided by the Allstate policy is $10,000.00 for each person and $20,000.00 for each occurrence for bodily injury liability and $5,000.00 for each occurrence for property damage liability.

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Bluebook (online)
285 F. Supp. 969, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/indiana-lumbermens-mutual-insurance-co-v-mitchell-illinoised-1968.