Thaxton v. Federated Mutual Implement & Hardware Insurance

274 F. Supp. 699
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedSeptember 13, 1967
DocketCiv. A. No. 67-C-2-D
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 274 F. Supp. 699 (Thaxton v. Federated Mutual Implement & Hardware Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thaxton v. Federated Mutual Implement & Hardware Insurance, 274 F. Supp. 699 (W.D. Va. 1967).

Opinion

OPINION and JUDGMENT

DALTON, Chief Judge.

The requirements of diversity of citizenship and amount in controversy having been met, this action was brought to determine the alleged liability of the defendant insurance companies.

The facts giving rise to this action occurred on March 7, 1966. At that time the plaintiff, Killis W. Thaxton, was a one-fourth owner and lessee of a building located on Highway 58, South Boston, Virginia. Plaintiff operated a grocery store on the ground floor of the building and rented rooms on the second floor. One of the roomers, Moses Dunkley, was injured while using an outside stairway to the second floor of plaintiff’s building. Moses Dunkley brought suit against plaintiff to recover for the injuries suffered as a result of his fall on the stairs and on motion of plaintiff, the three other co-owners of the building were joined as party defendants.

On the date of the accident the plaintiff had liability insurance with the Federated Mutual Implement and Hardware Insurance Company and with the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company. Federated Mutual refused to defend the plaintiff in the suit brought against him by Moses Dunkley on the grounds that [701]*701the policy covered only the ground floor of the building. United States Fidelity also denied liability and refused to furnish plaintiff any defense in the same suit on the grounds that it had insured the co-owners in their capacity as owners and had not insured plaintiff in his capacity as lessee of the building.

The plaintiff then brought this suit for a declaratory judgment against Federated Mutual Implement and Hardware Insurance Company, hereinafter defendant Federated Mutual, and United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, hereinafter defendant United States Fidelity, to interpret the insurance policies and determine each defendant’s liability to defend and indemnify plaintiff in Moses Dunkley’s suit against him. Moses Dunkley was permitted to intervene as a party plaintiff. His action against plaintiff is now pending. The defendant Federated Mutual has made a motion for a summary judgment in its favor on the present record.

The facts surrounding the two insurance policies will be discussed separately as to the respective insurance companies.

As to defendant Federated Mutual, it claims that its policy covers only the grocery store on the ground floor and no other parts of the building. Defendant Federated Mutual contends that three things show this: (1) the information in the application for insurance; (2) the inquiry of the plaintiff as to the cost of additional liability coverage; and (3) the declarations in the insurance policy itself.

We find first of all that the application for insurance is not admissible evidence against the plaintiff. The application was signed by the plaintiff, but the information on the application was filled in by the defendant Federated Mutual after the plaintiff signed it. The plaintiff signed a blank application and the insurance agent later filled in the information before sending the application to the company for approval. No copy of the completed application was ever mailed to the plaintiff or shown to him. The application was not made part of the policy and no reference to include it was made in the policy. There is no evidence to show that the plaintiff ever saw or had knowledge of the information contained in the application. This court feels that an insurance company cannot properly limit its coverage by terms of an application which is not attached to or referred to in the actual insurance policy received by the insured.

Defendant Federated Mutual also claims that the memorandum request for additional liability coverage on behalf of the E. G. Thaxton Estate shows that its coverage does not extend to the upstairs portion of the building. The E. G. Thaxton Estate is made up of the plaintiff and the three co-owners of the building. The memorandum states:

2/10/66 UNDERWRITING DEPT. K. W. “BUCK” THAXTON SOUTH BOSTON, VIRGINIA
Buck is leasing this store from the E. G. Thaxton Estate.
The E. G. Thaxton Estate wants to know about O.L.T. Lessors Risk Only Liab. coverage. I am quoting them on 600' feet of Street frontage under Code 0209. Each street here is occupied by tenants of various nature; Barber Shop, Veterinary Hospital, Mobile Home Sales lot, etc. Am I correct in using this Code ? Please advise by return mail. They’d like to know by the time I see them on 2/15/66— next Tuesday.
Many thanks,
/s/ C. B. Kendrick
C. B. Kendrick

[702]*702The barber shop, veterinary hospital and mobile homes sales lot which are owned by the E. G. Thaxton Estate were mentioned in the memo but the building in question which is also owned by the E. G. Thaxton Estate is not mentioned in the memo. Thus, the court’s inference is that the memo does not show that the E. G. Thaxton Estate was aware that the second floor of the building was not covered. The more obvious inference is that the building was not mentioned in the memo because the E. G. Thaxton Estate thought that the building was already covered under the existing policy.

The third contention of the defendant Federated Mutual is that the declarations in the policy itself show that only the Thaxton Grocery is insured. The policy states that the defendant Federated Mutual will be liable for damages which arise out of the “ownership, maintenance or use of the premises” which the policy describes as “the premises designated in the declarations * * The only declarations referring to the premises and pertinent to the question of the property covered are number one and number three. They read as follows:

1. Named Insured and P. O. Address THAXTON GROCERY THAXTON, K W “BUCK” DBA RIVERDALE BOX 8 SOUTH BOSTON VA.
3. Location of premises: (Enter “same” if same location as above) 1. S/S HWY 58 SOUTH BOSTON VA

The defendant Federated Mutual says that declaration number one which refers to the named insured and his address clearly shows that the grocery store on the ground floor was covered. The actual wording of declaration number one in the policy is as above, but this appears to be a transition error in copying from the application which states: “K. W. ‘Buck’ Thaxton d/b/a Thaxton Grocery.”

In view of the following cases, this court feels that the coverage of the insurance policy was not limited by mere reference to the fact that K. W. Thaxton, plaintiff, was doing business as Thaxton Grocery.

In Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Hercules Powder Co., 224 F.2d 293 (3d Cir. 1955) the court was primarily concerned with the question of products liability, but in discussing the interpretation of the name and address of the insured, the court stated that “[t]he giving of the address of the premises owned by Hercules in Pinto, West Virginia, in item 4 of the Declarations, we do not think persuasive as an exclusionary provision.” 224 F.2d at 295. In Snader v. London & Lancashire Indemnity Co., 360 Pa. 548, 62 A.2d 835 (1949), the court had an additional basis for its decision, but stated that:

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Bluebook (online)
274 F. Supp. 699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thaxton-v-federated-mutual-implement-hardware-insurance-vawd-1967.