Lukk v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedAugust 27, 2014
Docket12C-03-228
StatusPublished

This text of Lukk v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. (Lukk v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lukk v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., (Del. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

COTTY JAAK LUKK, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) C.A. N12C-03-228 PRW ) STATE FARM MUTUAL ) AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE ) COMPANY, ) ) Defendant. )

Submitted: July 29, 2014 Decided: August 27, 2014

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Upon Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment, DENIED.

Joseph J. Longobardi, III, Esquire, Longobardi & Boyle, LLC, Wilmington, Delaware, Attorney for Plaintiff.

Patrick G. Rock, Esquire, Heckler & Frabizzio, Wilmington, Delaware, Attorney for Defendant.

WALLACE, J. I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Cotty Jaak Lukk (“Mr. Lukk”) has filed this claim against

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”) for

breach of contract for failing to pay personal injury protection (“PIP”). 1 Mr.

Lukk says he is due these benefits under his father’s State Farm insurance

policy (the “Policy”). 2 Mr. Lukk argues that he is entitled to PIP coverage

under the Policy because he is a member of his father’s household. 3 Mr.

Lukk has moved for summary judgment, urging, inter alia, the Court to

interpret the Policy’s no-fault coverage language as including him as a

contemplated insured. 4

State Farm argues that Mr. Lukk is due no benefits under his father’s

Policy because: (1) he is not an “Insured”—while he is an immediate family

member of his father’s, State Farm claims Mr. Lukk has a “separate

household”; and (2) Mr. Lukk failed to submit medical expenses and bills to

State Farm within two years as required by the Policy and

1 In a separate case before this Court, he sues for State Farms’ refusal to pay underinsured motorist benefits. The Court previously denied Mr. Lukk’s motion for summary judgment regarding those benefits. Lukk v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 2014 WL 1891000 (Del. Super. Ct. May 12, 2014) (“Lukk I”). 2 Complaint, dated March 21, 2012, at ¶¶ 10-11 [hereinafter “Complaint”]. 3 Complaint at ¶ 9. 4 Pltf’s Mot. for Summary Judgment, dated June 2, 2014, at 2-4 [hereinafter “Pltf’s MSJ”].

-2- 21 Del. C. § 2118.5 For the following reasons, Mr. Lukk’s and State Farm’s

cross-Motions for Summary Judgment are DENIED.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 6

On June 6, 2010, Mr. Lukk was seriously injured in an accident that

took place in Indiana County, Pennsylvania while he was the passenger in a

friend’s truck. Mr. Lukk’s friend was liable for the one-vehicle accident and

Mr. Lukk collected the $35,000.00 policy limit from his friend’s insurance

company. He then made a claim for PIP coverage through the Policy. 7 The

no-fault Policy language in question states:

Insured means:

1. any person while occupying or injured in an accident as a pedestrian by your car or a newly acquired car, if registered in Delaware; and

2. you [Mr. Lukk’s father] or any member of your household while occupying or injured in an accident as a pedestrian by any other land motor vehicle designed for use on public highways and which is not:

5 Def’s Mot. for Summary Judgment, dated June 3, 2014, at 2-3 [hereinafter “Def’s MSJ”]. State Farm further alleged that Mr. Lukk failed to submit to an Examination Under Oath (“EUO”) as required under the “Insured’s Duties” section of the Policy. Def’s MSJ at 4. State Farm subsequently withdrew this claim (Trans. I.D. 55707583), and therefore the Court need not address it here. 6 Unless otherwise noted, the factual background is derived from the Lukk I opinion. 7 See Complaint at ¶ 10.

-3- a. Operated on rails or tracks; or b. Owned by or furnished for the regular use of you or any member of your household.

Member of your household means:

1. Members of your immediate family who have no separate household; and

2. Persons who reside with and are economically dependent upon you. 8

State Farm refused to provide coverage, alleging that since Mr. Lukk has

claimed that he resides with more than one parent, he is not an “Insured”

under the Policy. 9

At the time of the accident, Mr. Lukk was 18 years old and living in

an apartment while attending a Western Pennsylvania technical college.

During Mr. Lukk’s childhood, his parents shared equal custody; he

alternated between their houses week-by-week. During his childhood and

into his college years, Mr. Lukk maintained a bedroom with furniture,

clothing and personal effects in both his father’s and his mother’s home. 10

Mr. Lukk’s father and mother jointly shared his expenses including his car

8 Exhibit B, Def’s MSJ at 1 (No-Fault Coverage section from the Policy). 9 Def’s MSJ at ¶ 9. 10 At the time of the accident, Mr. Lukk’s mother resided in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. His father then-resided in Wilmington, Delaware, but has since moved to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Lukk I, 2014 WL 1891000, at *1.

-4- insurance payments, cell phone payments and spending money. 11 Mr. Lukk

had access to two vehicles, one registered to his father and the other

registered to his mother.12 Mr. Lukk’s primary source of income was his

parents’ shared support. That income was supplemented with student

loans. 13

Mr. Lukk has filed a breach of contract action in this Court against

State Farm. 14 Mr. Lukk incurred substantial personal injuries and expenses15

from the accident that he claims are covered because he was insured under

the Policy. 16 According to Mr. Lukk, State Farm breached the Policy when

11 Mr. Lukk’s mother paid for his cell phone at the time of the accident, but his father paid for it at other times. The breakdown of which parent paid which particular expenses at what time is not exactly clear, beyond a few specific examples. Nor is it clear what is the percentage breakdown of Mr. Lukk’s total economic burden carried by each. No matter what the exact breakdown is, it can be fairly inferred from the record that both Mr. Lukk’s mother and father made a good faith effort to divide his expenses and bills equally. Id. 12 Mr. Lukk’s primary automobile, a Ford F-150 pickup truck, was registered in his mother’s name and was under his mother’s insurance policy, although his father helped make the insurance payments. Mr. Lukk’s secondary automobile, a Datsun 280-ZX, was registered in his father’s name and was under his father’s insurance policy, but was stored in a garage at his mother’s house. Id. 13 Lukk Dep. Ex. 2 to Pltf’s MSJ at 9. Mr. Lukk testified that he believed both parents co-signed for his student loans. Lukk Dep. Ex. 2 to Pltf’s MSJ at 9. 14 Complaint at ¶ 10. 15 As a result of the accident, Mr. Lukk now suffers from paraplegia and must deal daily with the host of attendant debilitating medical issues associated with that condition. See, e.g., Mot. for Cont., Lukk v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., Del. Super., C.A. No. N12C-06-161 (May 12, 2014) (D.I. 33). 16 Complaint at ¶ 5, 8-10.

-5- it refused to pay him PIP benefits. And so he demands full payment of those

benefits, costs and interest.17 He is now seeking summary judgment on this

PIP claim. 18

State Farm counters that in order for Mr. Lukk to be properly

considered an “Insured” under the language of the Policy he must, as a

threshold matter, demonstrate that he (1) has no separate household other

than his father’s; (2) resides solely with his father; and (3) is financially

dependent upon only his father.19 As Mr. Lukk has alleged that he resided in

more than one place—at least his father’s and his mother’s—State Farm

argues that Mr. Lukk has a “separate household,” and therefore cannot

properly be considered an “Insured” under the Policy.

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