Polzin v. Phoenix of Hartford Insurance

283 N.E.2d 324, 5 Ill. App. 3d 84, 1972 Ill. App. LEXIS 2671
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 18, 1972
Docket55244
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 283 N.E.2d 324 (Polzin v. Phoenix of Hartford Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Polzin v. Phoenix of Hartford Insurance, 283 N.E.2d 324, 5 Ill. App. 3d 84, 1972 Ill. App. LEXIS 2671 (Ill. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE LEIGHTON

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal requires us to construe an endorsement to an automobile liability insurance policy. The essential facts are not in dispute.

Appellant Burnell A. Polzin, at the time in question, was the president of A.B.C. Lithoplate and Graining Service, Inc. of Chicago. He was the corporation’s chief executive officer and owner of 50% of its stock. The company owned two automobiles, both insured by appellee The Phoenix of Hartford Insurance Companies. One was a 1967 Cadillac originally purchased by Polzin who for tax reasons transferred title to the corporation. Polzin was Lithoplate’s only outside salesman. Therefore, he, more than anyone else, drove the Cadillac. The automobile insurance was obtained by Polzin who left the coverage details to an employee of the agency with which he did insurance business. Lithoplate was the only named insured on the Phoenix policy. The policy had a “Family Protection Coverage” endorsement which provided “uninsured or hit-and-run motor vehicle coverage” required by Illinois law. By the insuring agreements of the endorsement, Phoenix was obligated to pay all sums to which “the insured or his legal representative” should be entitled from the owner or operator of any uninsured automobile that caused bodily injury to the insured. The term “insured” in the endorsement meant:

(1) “the named insured as stated in the policy (herein also referred to as the “principal named insured”) and any person designated as named insured in the schedule and, while residents of the same household, the spouse of any such named insured and relatives of either;

(2) any other person while occupying an insured automobile; and

(3) any person, with respect to damages he is entitled to recover because of bodily injury to winch this endorsement applies sustained by an insured under (1) or (2) above.”

On June 15, 1968, at about 4:00 P.M., Polzin was standing on the northeast corner of Jackson and Ashland Boulevards in Chicago. As the result of a collision, an uninsured motor vehicle owned by Robert E. Nalls careened and struck Polzin, seriously injuring him. Later, Polzin served Phoenix with notice, claiming that he was covered by the uninsured motorist endorsement on the policy issued to Lithoplate. Phoenix denied the claim. Then, relying on a clause of the endorsement that provided for arbitration, Polzin demanded submission of his claim to a member of the American Arbitration Association. Phoenix resisted submission on the ground that Polzin had no coverage rights under the policy to Lithoplate. Phoenix contended that because a question of coverage was involved, the American Arbitration Association, whose auspices Polzin sought to invoke, was without jurisdiction to hear his claim. On the day of the arbitration hearing, Phoenix appeared and objected to commencement of arbitration. The objection was overruled and arbitration proceeded.

Polzin was the only witness. He testified that he bought the 1967 Cadillac, put the title in the corporation, and drove it most of the time; that he arranged for the insurance policy but never read it to see if it covered him; that tire corporation owned the insured automobiles. Then, Polzin and Phoenix stipulated that the automobile which injured Polzin was uninsured; that its driver’s negligence caused the injuries; and that Polzin’s loss exceeded the policy limit of $10,000. Thereafter, Polzin, through his counsel, argued that though he was not a named insured in the policy, he had rights under the uninsured motorist endorsement because the “Family Protection Coverage” afforded recovery for bodily injury, a thing which Lithoplate, a corporation, could not incur. Therefore, the endorsement would be a nullity unless he, Polzin, the corporation’s chief executive officer and the person who was the principal operator of one of the insured automobiles, had coverage for the injuries he sustained as a pedestrian.

Phoenix, by its counsel, argued that the policy to Lithoplate did furnish coverage for bodily injury. However, it was bodily injury suffered by a person who, with Lithoplate’s consent, was occupying one of the insured automobiles. Phoenix insisted that since Polzin was neither named in the policy as an insured nor an occupant of one of the insured automobiles, he had no coverage under the endorsement. After taking the submission under advisement, the arbitrator awarded Polzin $10,000, tire full amount of the policy.

Thereafter, involdng the Uniform Arbitration Act, 1 Phoenix filed a petition to vacate the award. Polzin answered. After hearing the parties, the trial judge vacated the award, finding that “[respondent (Polzin) was not an insured entitled to the uninsured motorist protection under the policy in question and the occurrence as described in the petition and answer.” Judgment was entered in favor of Phoenix “[o]n all questions relating to * * * coverage for the occurrence in question.” The issue presented is whether Polzin, not a named insured, and a pedestrian injured by an uninsured motorist, had coverage rights within the terms of the uninsured motorist endorsement to the policy which Phoenix issued to Lithoplate.

In the law of insurance, there cannot be recovery on a policy without proof that the loss claimed falls within the terms of the coverage provided. (Sell v. Country Mutual Insurance Company, 23 Ill.App.2d 497, 163 N.E.2d 547.) The general rules which govern proof of actions on insurance contracts place on a claimant the burden of proving his right to sue on the policy. (46 C.J.S. Insurance par. 1316(1); Couch on Insurance 2d par. 79:344.) Consistent with these rules, we have held that one who sues on a policy of insurance must prove that he comes within its terms. (See Milkes v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 257 Ill. App. 65.) And in Krmicek v. Federal Life Ins. Co., 252 Ill.App. 232, we held that where no claim is made of deception in the issuance of a policy, he who receives it is charged with knowledge of its limitations.

In this case, it is not suggested that either Polzin or Lithoplate was deceived by the automobile liabHity policy which Phoenix issued. In fact, in his testimony before the arbitrator, Polzin admitted that when the Cadillac was made a subject of the policy to Lithoplate, he did not request inclusion of his name as an insured on the uninsured motorist endorsement. Neither by testimonial nor documentary proof does the record disclose that Phoenix or any of its agents owed Polzin the duty to see that the principal operator of the CadiUac was named an insured in the policy. Therefore, contrary to Polzin’s argument in this appeal, it is irrelevant whether the insurance brokerage company that obtained the policy was an agent for Phoenix. Under these circumstances, Polzin, as the corporation’s chief executive officer, is charged with knowledge that the policy issued by Phoenix insured only Lithoplate. This being so, when Polzin asserted his claim, he had the burden of proving that the pohcy covered him and that he had the right to sue on it. Compare Macaluso v. Watson (1966), La.App., 188 So.2d 178; Boedigheimer v. Taylor (1970), 287 Minn. 323,178 N.W.2d 610.

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Bluebook (online)
283 N.E.2d 324, 5 Ill. App. 3d 84, 1972 Ill. App. LEXIS 2671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/polzin-v-phoenix-of-hartford-insurance-illappct-1972.