RLI Insurance Co. v. Pike

556 N.W.2d 1, 1996 Minn. App. LEXIS 1360, 1996 WL 689458
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 3, 1996
DocketCX-96-747
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 556 N.W.2d 1 (RLI Insurance Co. v. Pike) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
RLI Insurance Co. v. Pike, 556 N.W.2d 1, 1996 Minn. App. LEXIS 1360, 1996 WL 689458 (Mich. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

WILLIS, Judge.

Richard Pike, as trustee for the heirs and next of kin of Lowell Pike, appeals from a grant of summary judgment in favor of respondent RLI Insurance Company. Appellant argues that liability coverage for Lowell Pike’s death existed under the aircraft liability insurance policy issued by respondent because the policy’s exclusion of coverage for bodily injury to or death of passengers who are also named insureds violates Minnesota *2 Statutes sections 60A.081 and 360.92 and Minnesota public policy. We affirm.

FACTS

John Pluto and Lowell Pike owned a Piper PA24 — 250 airplane through Aire Austin, Inc. (Aire Austin), a corporation of which they were the sole shareholders. Aire Austin bought a liability insurance policy for the airplane from respondent RLI Insurance Company. The named insureds on the policy were John Pluto, Lowell Pike, and Aire Austin.

On September 29, 1993, the Piper PA24-250 plane crashed in Akron, Ohio, with John Pluto, Lowell Pike, and Robert E. McLaren, Jr., on board. All three died in the crash. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators believe that John Pluto was piloting the plane at the time of the crash, while Lowell Pike and Robert E. McLaren, Jr., were passengers. For the purpose of this litigation, the parties stipulate that Lowell Pike was not the pilot. The estate of Robert E. McLaren, Jr., sought and received benefits for his death under the liability policy at issue.

Appellant asserted a wrongful death action against Aire Austin and the estate of John Pluto. Aire Austin and the estate of John Pluto seek coverage for Lowell Pike’s death under the liability policy issued by respondent. Respondent’s liability insurance policy provides, in relevant part, that the coverage

protects you or any permissive user for your or their legal responsibility for both bodily injury and property damage. It will also include protection for your or their legal responsibility for bodily injury to passengers in the insured aircraft if you have chosen to buy that additional coverage.

The additional coverage for bodily injury to passengers was chosen here. Appellant sought coverage for Lowell Pike’s death as a “passenger,” which the insurance policy defines as “any person in the aircraft, including crew, while they are in, on, or getting into or out of the aircraft.”

Respondent denied coverage for Lowell Pike’s death because he was a named insured and the policy is not designed to provide first-person coverage to named insureds. Respondent relied on exclusions in sections 1 and 5 of the policy. Section 1 captioned “Liability Protection: What Is Not Insured In This Section,” states “[T]he policy does not insure for any bodily injury to you.” “You” is defined by section 5:

You, Your and Yours mean the person or organizations who are named in Item 1 on your Insurance Coverage Schedule. These words also include the spouse of any person named in Item 1 if that spouse resides in the same household as the person. If you are a flying club and Item 6 of your Insurance Coverage Schedule so indicates, all of the members in good standing of the flying club and their spouses are included in the definition of you, your and yours.

This action followed to determine the coverage issue. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court determined that respondent does not have a duty under the policy to defend or indemnify Aire Austin and the estate of John Pluto against appellant’s claims. This appeal followed.

ISSUES

1. Did the district court err in concluding that an aircraft liability insurance policy that excludes coverage for bodily injury to or the death of passengers who are also named insureds does not violate Minnesota Statutes sections 60A081 and 360.92?

2. Did the district court err in concluding that an aircraft liability policy that excludes coverage for bodily injury to or the death of passengers who are also named insureds is not contrary to Minnesota public policy?

ANALYSIS

The interpretation and construction of an insurance policy are issues of law, which this court reviews de novo. Dakhue Landfill, Inc. v. Employers Ins. of Wausau, 508 N.W.2d 798, 802 (Minn.App.1993). Summary judgment is appropriate if the record shows “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that either party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Minn. R.Civ.P. 56.03. The facts here were stipulated to by the parties. Thus, this court *3 must determine whether the district court erred in applying the law. See State by Cooper v. French, 460 N.W.2d 2, 4 (Minn.1990).

Appellant argues the district court erred in its determination that the liability policy issued by respondent excluded from coverage the death of Lowell Pike, a passenger in the aircraft. Appellant claims such an exclusion is void because it violates Minnesota Statutes sections 60A.081 and 360.92 (1994) and Minnesota public policy. We disagree.

1. Violation of Minn.Stat. §§ 60A.081, 360.92.

It is a well-settled principle of insurance law that parties are free to contract, “so long as coverage required by law is not omitted and policy provisions do not contravene applicable statutes.” American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ryan, 330 N.W.2d 113, 115 (Minn.1983). Any insurance policy provision that is contrary to statutory requirements is ineffective. Shank v. Fidelity Mut. Life Ins. Co., 221 Minn. 124, 128, 21 N.W.2d 235, 237 (1945).

“It is axiomatic that the parties to an insurance contract * * * cannot make a contract which is prohibited by law or contrary to public policy; and where there is a conflict between the law or statutory provisions on the one hand and the provisions of an insurance policy on the other, the former must prevail.”

Id. at 130, 21 N.W.2d at 238 (quoting 29 Am.Jur. Insurance § 190).

By enacting sections 60A.081 and 360.92, the Minnesota legislature mandated that all liability policies covering Minnesota aircraft provide coverage for bodily injury to or the death of passengers and nonpassengers. Section 60A.081 provides, in relevant part:

[N]o policy of insurance issued or delivered in this state covering an aircraft equipped with passenger seats and covering liability hazards shall be issued excluding coverage for injury to or death of passengers or nonpassengers * * *.

Minn.Stat. § 60A.081, subd. 2 (emphasis added). Moreover,

[i]t is a misdemeanor for an owner to operate or permit to be operated an aircraft registered or based within the state of Minnesota without

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
556 N.W.2d 1, 1996 Minn. App. LEXIS 1360, 1996 WL 689458, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rli-insurance-co-v-pike-minnctapp-1996.