Van Overbeke v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

227 N.W.2d 807, 303 Minn. 387, 1975 Minn. LEXIS 1545
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 28, 1975
Docket44966
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 227 N.W.2d 807 (Van Overbeke v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Van Overbeke v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, 227 N.W.2d 807, 303 Minn. 387, 1975 Minn. LEXIS 1545 (Mich. 1975).

Opinion

MacLaughlin, Justice.

The issue in this case is whether there was insurance coverage on a 1955 Chevrolet at the time of an accident on April 9, 1973. The trial court held that there was, and we agree.

On April 9, 1973, plaintiff, John A. Van Overbeke, was involved in an accident while driving a 1955 Chevrolet owned by his brother, Thomas Van Overbeke. Thomas had no policy of insurance on the 1955 Chevrolet on the date of the accident. Plain *388 tiff, however, did have a policy of insurance in effect on the date of the accident. That insurance policy was with defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and covered a 1969 Camaro owned by plaintiff. The policy included coverage for plaintiff while driving a “non-owned automobile,” as defined in the policy. Plaintiff claimed that the 1955 Chevrolet was a “non-owned automobile” under that definition and brought this action asking the trial court to declare that defendant was obligated to provide coverage for the April 1973 accident according to the terms of the insurance policy.

The insurance policy in question obligated defendant to pay, among other things, all sums which the insured became legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury and property damage, and to pay certain medical expenses on behalf of plaintiff and others if they arose out of the ownership or use of the “owned motor vehicle,” which in this case was the 1969 Camaro.

The policy further provided that the insurance on the 1969 Camaro would also apply to the use of a “non-owned automobile” by plaintiff. A “non-owned automobile” is defined in the policy as:

“* * * [A]n automobile * * * not
(1) owned by,
(2) registered in the name of, or
(3) furnished or available for the frequent or regular use of the named insured, his spouse, or any relative of either residing in the same household, other than a temporary substitute automobile.” (Italics omitted.)

Defendant contends that the 1955 Chevrolet was either (a) owned by a relative of the named insured residing in the same household, or (b) furnished or available for the frequent or regular use of the named insured. Therefore, argues defendant, the 1955 Chevrolet was not a “non-owned automobile” at the time *389 of the accident and was not covered by the insurance policy in effect on the 1969 Camaro.

The trial court concluded that the 1955 Chevrolet was a non-owned automobile within the meaning of the policy and was, therefore, covered under the terms of the insurance policy on the 1969 Camaro. It based that conclusion on its findings of fact that plaintiff and his brother, Thomas, did not reside in the same household and that the 1955 Chevrolet was not “furnished or available for the frequent or regular use” of plaintiff.

Plaintiff, age 19 at the time of the accident, was born in Marshall, Minnesota, and raised on his parents’ nearby farm. In September 1972, plaintiff entered the Mankato Area Vocational Technical Institute. At that time he and a roommate rented an-apartment at 408 1/2 Front Street in Mankato in which he lived until the time of the accident. At the beginning of 1973, plaintiff applied for unemployment compensation in Mankato. Thereafter, in February 1973, plaintiff obtained employment in a Mankato factory where he worked 40 hours a week while going to school. While he was in Mankato, plaintiff paid his own rent, bought his own food, and received no support from his parents. Plaintiff testified that he had intended to register to vote in Mankato, but forgot to do so. He also testified that while in school at Mankato he received a duplicate driver’s license which showed his address as that of his parents in Marshall, but he stated at the trial that from the time he moved to Mankato up to the time of the accident it was his intention that Mankato be his residence. He also testified that he received mail both at his parents’ address, Rural Route 3, Marshall, and at his Mankato address.

Plaintiff had owned a motorcycle and several cars while living on the farm and had insured them with defendant. In April 1972, prior to the time he entered school in Mankato, plaintiff purchased a 1969 Camaro. When plaintiff applied to defendant for insurance on this car, he listed his address as that of his parents. Later, when plaintiff moved to Mankato to begin school, he took *390 the Camaro with him, and that is the only car he regularly used up until a few weeks before the accident.

On: March 25, 1973, approximately two weeks before the accident, plaintiff began driving the 1955 Chevrolet owned by his brother, Thomas, who lived in his parents’ home on the farm near Marshall. It is clear from the record that plaintiff began driving the 1955 Chevrolet because Thomas had asked him to take the car back to Mankato for the purpose of removing some lettering from the side of the car, which plaintiff agreed to do at the vocational school in Mankato. For that reason, plaintiff took the 1955 Chevrolet back to Mankato and left the Camaro at his parents’ home. During the time plaintiff drove the 1955 Chevrolet, his brother drove the Camaro two or three times. After having the 1955 Chevrolet one week, plaintiff discovered that it would take three weeks to finish the work because he had other duties at school which would take up his time. Plaintiff then returned the car to Marshall and informed Thomas of this fact. Thomas asked plaintiff to take the car back to Mankato so that the work could be completed. Plaintiff did some sanding during the first week he had the car and some sanding and painting during the second week. He intended to finish the work during the third week. During this two-week period plaintiff drove the 1955 Chevrolet to and from school and to and from work; and after spending the weekend of March 31 to April 1, 1973, at his parents’ home, he used the Chevrolet to drive his fiancee to Anoka, where she attended school. Plaintiff then drove from Anoka to Mankato on Sunday evening of that weekend.

At the end of the second week, plaintiff was visited at Mankato by his fiancee. On Sunday night and early Monday morning of that weekend, plaintiff drove her from Mankato to Anoka in the 1955 Chevrolet. On the return trip from Anoka to Mankato on April 9, 1973, plaintiff, who was alone in the car, was involved in an accident with another car in which both plaintiff and the driver of the other car were injured.

As a result of the accident, plaintiff was hospitalized for over *391 one month. While in the hospital, he asked his mother to go to his apartment in Mankato and pick up his belongings. From the time he was discharged from the hospital until he again moved to an apartment in Mankato upon returning to school in the fall, plaintiff used his parents’ home as his address. While he was in the hospital, plaintiff was interviewed by defendant’s agent and signed several documents relating to his claim. At that time he gave his parents’ address, Rural Route 3, Marshall, as his address.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Johnson v. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance
890 F. Supp. 2d 1100 (D. Minnesota, 2012)
Frey v. United Services Automobile Ass'n
743 N.W.2d 337 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2008)
Gibson v. Callaghan
730 A.2d 1278 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1999)
MERRIMACK MUT. v. McDill
674 So. 2d 4 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Milbank Insurance Co. v. Johnson
544 N.W.2d 56 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1996)
Cicciarella v. Amica Mutual Insurance
66 F.3d 764 (Fifth Circuit, 1995)
Merrimack Mut Fire Ins Co v. Linda Kay McDill
Mississippi Supreme Court, 1992
Schoer v. West Bend Mutual Insurance Co.
473 N.W.2d 73 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1991)
Universal Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Evans
565 So. 2d 741 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1990)
Donegal Mutual Insurance v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
546 A.2d 1212 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Johnson v. American Economy Insurance Co.
419 N.W.2d 126 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1988)
Krause Ex Relo. Krause v. Mutual Service Casualty Co.
399 N.W.2d 597 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)
Mutual Service Casualty Insurance Co. v. Wochnick
397 N.W.2d 435 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1986)
Holt v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
507 So. 2d 388 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1986)
Skarsten v. Dairyland Insurance Co.
381 N.W.2d 16 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1986)
Auto-Owners Insurance Co. v. Harris Ex Rel. Harris
374 N.W.2d 795 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)
French v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.
372 N.W.2d 839 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
227 N.W.2d 807, 303 Minn. 387, 1975 Minn. LEXIS 1545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-overbeke-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-minn-1975.