State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Fitzgerald

38 N.E.3d 325, 25 N.Y.3d 799, 16 N.Y.S.3d 796
New York Court of Appeals·Decided July 1, 2015·Published·Cited by 31 cases

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

Abdus-Salaam, J.

More than a quarter-century ago, in Matter of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Amato (72 NY2d 288 [1988]), we squarely “h[e]ld” that “Insurance Law § 3420 (f) — providing that all ‘motor vehicle’ insurance policies must contain uninsured motorist coverage — has no application to police vehicles” {id. at 295). Nonetheless, in this case, the Appellate Division deemed that holding inapplicable to supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage mandated by Insurance Law § 3420 (f) (2). Distinguishing Amato on its facts, the Appellate Division proceeded to define “motor vehicle” for purposes of statutorily required SUM coverage as inclusive of police vehicles.

This was error. With respect to the statutory definition of the critical term “motor vehicle,” there is no material distinction between the uninsured motorist coverage at issue in Amato and the disputed SUM coverage here, and the factual differences between this case and Amato do not compel a different result. Consequently, a police vehicle is not a “motor vehicle” covered by a SUM endorsement under Insurance Law § 3420 (f) (2) (A). Furthermore, to the extent there is any question of the continuing precedential force of Amato — and the parties here have not raised such a question — the language and legislative history of Insurance Law § 3420, as well as the doctrine of stare decisis, fully support our retention of Amato as binding precedent in this matter of statutory interpretation.

I

While riding in a police vehicle driven by fellow Officer Michael Knauss, respondent Police Officer Patrick Fitzgerald was injured when the allegedly intoxicated driver of an underinsured vehicle struck the police car. At the time, Knauss maintained an automobile liability insurance policy issued by appellant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and the policy included a SUM endorsement. In addition to covering Knauss as the named insured and his family, the SUM endorsement insured against injuries to “any other person while occupying” Knauss’s personal vehicle or “any other motor vehicle while being operated by [the named insured] or [the [802]*802named insured’s] spouse” (some emphasis added and some emphasis omitted). The policy did not define the term “motor vehicle.”1

On or before July 25, 2011, GEICO, the insurer for the underinsured motorist who had hit Knauss’s car, tendered payment to Fitzgerald in the amount of $25,000, which was the limit of the underinsured motorist’s policy. On August 18, 2011, based on the injuries he received while occupying Knauss’s police vehicle during the accident, Fitzgerald made a demand upon State Farm for underinsured motorist arbitration under the SUM endorsement of Knauss’s policy. State Farm refused to make any payment to Fitzgerald on the ground that he had occupied a police vehicle at the time of the accident, which was not a covered “motor vehicle” within the meaning of the SUM endorsement. State Farm then filed a petition to permanently stay arbitration based on the asserted unavailability of SUM benefits for Fitzgerald.

Supreme Court granted State Farm’s petition to permanently stay arbitration. As relevant here, the court held that, although an individual who is the principal insured can receive benefits under his or her own insurance policy when he or she is in a police vehicle during an accident, that rule does not apply to an individual such as Fitzgerald, who seeks coverage under a SUM endorsement in someone else’s insurance policy. Citing Amato, the court determined that Insurance Law § 3420 (f) (2) (A), which controls the SUM endorsement in Knauss’s policy, incorporates Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 (2)’s definition of a covered “motor vehicle,” which specifically excludes police vehicles such as the one containing Fitzgerald at the time of the accident. Thus, the court concluded that Knauss’s policy does not cover Fitzgerald, and it permanently stayed arbitration on Fitzgerald’s claim for coverage. Fitzgerald appealed.

The Appellate Division unanimously reversed Supreme Court’s order and denied the petition to permanently stay arbitration, holding that the police car in which Fitzgerald had been riding at the time of the accident constituted a “motor vehicle” under the SUM endorsement in Knauss’s automobile insurance policy (see 112 AD3d 166, 167-170 [2d Dept 2013]). In that regard, since neither the SUM endorsement itself nor In[803]*803surance Law § 3420 (f) defines the term “motor vehicle,” the Appellate Division looked to the provisions of the Vehicle and Traffic Law defining that term (see id. at 168). In that Court’s view, since Vehicle and Traffic Law § 125 sets forth the general definition of a “motor vehicle” to be used throughout the Vehicle and Traffic Law, that statute provides the most widely applicable definition of the term, which encompasses all motor-powered vehicles and includes police vehicles (see id. at 168-169). Thus, the Court opined, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 125 “should be used to define the term ‘motor vehicle,’ as it appears in the uninsured/underinsured motorist endorsement,” because “Vehicle and Traffic Law § 125 is a general provision that defines the relevant terminology for the entire Vehicle and Traffic Law” (id. at 169). Citing its prior decision in Matter of Progressive Northeastern Ins. Co. v Scalamandre (51 AD3d 932 [2d Dept 2008]) and the Fourth Department’s decision in Matter of Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v Rondina (32 AD3d 1230 [4th Dept 2006]), the Court said, “Additionally, it has been recognized that uninsured motorist coverage extends to all ‘motor vehicles,’ as defined by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 125” (id.).

The Court noted that Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 (2) defines the term “vehicle” for purposes of civil liability as “a ‘motor vehicle,’ as defined in [Vehicle and Traffic Law § 125] . . . , except fire and police vehicles,” but the Court found that definition inapplicable because Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 (2) does not feature the most common general definition of “vehicle” and defines the term “vehicle” rather than the critical term “motor vehicle” at issue here (id. at 168-169). The Court attempted to distinguish Amato, positing that, there, this Court decided only that New York City as a self-regulating insurer did not have to provide liability coverage for police vehicles under Insurance Law § 3420 (e) and (f) (1) because a police vehicle does not qualify as a “motor vehicle” under those statutes, whereas here the issue is whether a separate statutory subsection, Insurance Law § 3420 (f) (2), classifies a police car as a “motor vehicle” (see id.). Given that Vehicle and Traffic Law § 125’s definition of “motor vehicle” applies to Insurance Law § 3420 (f) (2) and encompasses police vehicles, the Court maintained, “the police vehicle at issue here falls within the definition of a ‘motor vehicle’ under the uninsured/underinsured motorist endorsement,” and consequently, respondent was entitled to SUM benefits under the policy that State Farm issued to Knauss (id. at 170).

[804]*804Upon State Farm’s application, we granted a stay of the Appellate Division’s order and leave to appeal (22 NY3d 1168 [2014]). We now reverse.

II

Principles of Interpretation, Insurance Law § 3420 and Amato

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State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Fitzgerald, 38 N.E.3d 325, 25 N.Y.3d 799, 16 N.Y.S.3d 796 (N.Y. 2015).

38 N.E.3d 325 (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Fitzgerald) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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