Municipal Mutual Insurance v. Hundley

723 S.E.2d 398, 228 W. Va. 573, 2011 WL 5984498, 2011 W. Va. LEXIS 335
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 23, 2011
Docket11-0107
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 723 S.E.2d 398 (Municipal Mutual Insurance v. Hundley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Municipal Mutual Insurance v. Hundley, 723 S.E.2d 398, 228 W. Va. 573, 2011 WL 5984498, 2011 W. Va. LEXIS 335 (W. Va. 2011).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Petitioner Municipal Mutual Insurance Company of West Virginia (hereinafter “Mu *574 tual”) appeals the portion of the August 17, 2010, order of the Circuit Court of Wayne County that granted partial summary judgment to Respondent Terry Hundley in his action against Mutual asserting coverage for the loss by theft of two all terrain vehicles (hereinafter “ATVs”) under a homeowner’s insurance policy issued by Mutual. On appeal, Mutual contends that the policy became void for lack of an insurable interest after the death of its sole named insured. Alternatively, Mutual argues that there is no coverage under the plain language of the policy. After careful consideration of the parties’ arguments and the applicable law, this Court agrees with Mutual that the loss by theft of the ATVs is not covered under the language of the policy relied on by the circuit court. Therefore, we reverse the circuit court’s order and we remand to the circuit court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

FACTS

Audrey Hundley was the only owner of a home and parcel of property in Wayne County, West Virginia. Ms. Hundley’s property was covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy which she purchased from Mutual. Ms. Hundley was the sole named insured in the homeowner’s policy. Ms. Hundley died on November 8, 2007. At the time of her death, Jeffrey Shawn Hundley, a son, was the only other resident of her home.

No one immediately informed Mutual of Ms. Hundley’s death. Five days after her death, Mutual issued a renewal declarations sheet for Ms. Hundley’s homeowner’s policy for the period from December 13, 2007, to March 13, 2008. After Ms. Hundley’s death, either her son Terry Hundley, the respondent in this case, or Terry Hundley’s sister paid the premium on the policy. Mutual subsequently reissued the policy for three month terms on March 13, 2008; June 13, 2008; and September 13, 2008. At no time during this period did anyone inform Mutual that Ms. Hundley had died.

In October 2008, Terry Hundley filed a notice of claim on the homeowner’s policy in which he indicated that two ATVs had been stolen from the property covered by the policy. At this time, he informed Mutual that Audrey Hundley was deceased, that he was the administrator of her estate, and that he now lived on the property covered by the policy. This was the first time that Mutual had been made aware of Ms. Hundley’s death.

Significantly, Terry Hundley was the sole owner of the stolen ATVs. At the time of Audrey Hundley’s death in November 2007, Mr. Hundley did not reside with his mother, and his ATVs were not kept on his mother’s property. He moved into his mother’s former residence in the summer of 2008, at which time he moved the ATVs onto the property.

When Mutual learned of Audrey Hundley’s death, it rescinded her homeowner’s policy and immediately issued a premium refund check payable to Audrey J. Hundley in care of Terry Hundley. Mutual also refused to pay Terry Hundley’s claim for the stolen ATVs. Terry Hundley did not cash the premium refund check.

Subsequently, Terry Hundley sued Mutual in the Circuit Court of Wayne County alleging several causes of action including four counts for breach of contract. In its ruling below, the circuit court granted partial summary judgment to Terry Hundley on one count for breach of contract. Specifically, the court found that there is coverage for the loss by theft of Terry Hundley’s two ATVs under the “Coverage Not Covered” section of the homeowner’s policy. Mutual now appeals this portion of the August 17, 2010, order to this Court.

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In this ease, this Court is called upon to review a grant of partial summary judgment. In doing so, we must determine the proper coverage of an insurance policy. Therefore, our review is plenary. See Syl. pt. 2, Riffe v. Home Finders Associates, Inc., 205 W.Va. 216, 517 S.E.2d 313 (1999) (holding that “[t]he interpretation of an insurance contract, including the question of whether the contract is ambiguous, is a legal determination that, like a lower court’s grant of *575 summary judgment, shall be reviewed de novo on appeal”).

III.

DISCUSSION

Mutual raises two assignments of error in its challenge to the circuit court’s grant of partial summary judgment. First, Mutual asserts that the homeowner’s policy, which was issued solely to Audrey Hundley, became void for lack of an insurable interest as a result of Ms. Hundley’s death. This Court does not deem it necessary to address this issue. Instead, we find that the language of the homeowner’s policy controls the disposition of this case. Therefore, we now proceed to address Mutual’s second assignment of error.

According to Mutual, the circuit court erred in finding that the homeowner’s policy language extends coverage to the loss by theft of Terry Hundley’s ATVs. In order to properly address this assignment of error, this Court must consider several sections of the homeowner’s policy which we reproduce below.

DEFINITIONS

In this policy, “you” and “your” refer to the “named insured” shown in the Declarations and the spouse if a resident of the same household. “We,” “us” and “our” refer to the Company providing this insurance. In addition, certain words and phrases are defined as follows:

3. “Insured” means you and residents of your household who are:
a. Your relatives; or
b. Other persons under the age of 21 and in the care of any person named above.
8. “Residence Premises” means:
a. The one family dwelling, other structures, and grounds; or
“Residence premises” also means a two family dwelling where you reside in at least one of the family units and which is shown as the “residence premises” in the Declarations.
SECTION COVERAGES
COVERAGE Property
We cover personal property owned or used by an “insured” while it is anywhere in the world. At your request, we will cover personal property owned by:
1. Others while the property is on the part of the “residence premises” occupied by an “insured”;
2. A guest or a “residence employee,” while the property is in any residence occupied by an “insured.”
Property Not Covered. We do not cover:
3. Motor vehicles or all other motorized land conveyances....
We do cover vehicles or conveyances not subject to motor vehicle registration which are:
a. Used to service an “insured’s”' residence[.]
SECTIONS I AND
9. Death. If any person named in the Declarations or the spouse, if a resident of the same household, dies:

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723 S.E.2d 398, 228 W. Va. 573, 2011 WL 5984498, 2011 W. Va. LEXIS 335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/municipal-mutual-insurance-v-hundley-wva-2011.