Westfield Companies v. Knapp

804 N.E.2d 1270, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 451, 2004 WL 557334
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 23, 2004
Docket56A03-0304-CV-141
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 804 N.E.2d 1270 (Westfield Companies v. Knapp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westfield Companies v. Knapp, 804 N.E.2d 1270, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 451, 2004 WL 557334 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

The Westfield Companies appeal summary judgment in favor of Ralph and Joanne Knapp and Scott Spangle (collec— tively, "the msureds”)

Westfield muses three issues on appeal which we consohdate and restate as:

1. Whether a pickup truck used for loading melons on a farm is "mobile equipment" and. therefore excluded from coverage by an insurance poli-ey's motor vehicle exclusion; and
.2. Whether the trial court properly de- ' termined Spangle was on the Knapp property with permission and therefore was entitled to recover under the medical payment provision of the policy.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

The Knapps and Cecil and Thelma Ponder 1 have farms in Newton County. Thelma's son, Scott Spangle, lived with the Ponders at the time of the accident that gives rise to this insurance coverage dispute. The Knapps and the Ponders both operated farm stands where they sold produce they raised. In 1999, the Knapps and the Ponders decided to combine their farm stand operations. Both farmers would grow produce on their own farms and sell it at the joint farm stand. The Ponders would also plant and harvest crops on land the Knapps owned and prepared for planting. Ralph Knapp decided to add liability insurance coverage for the farm stand operation and he added that coverage to his farm package policy.

The Knapps and Ponders decided to grow watermelons and cantaloupes on the Knapp property. Various members of the Ponder family, including Spangle, helped with the planting, weeding, and harvesting of the melons. On August 14, 1999, the Ponders and Spangle drove the Ponders pickup truck to the Knapp property to pick melons for sale that day. Thelma drove the truck onto a farm lane that went through the melon patch, and Cecil and Spangle picked melons and loaded them into the back of the truck. As Thelma reached the end of the farm lane she attempted to turn the truck around and the truck slid off the edge of the lane and dropped into a shallow furrow. Thelma revved the engine to avoid becoming stuck in the mud. Spangle was in front of the truck and was hit when it unexpectedly lurched forward.

Westfield sought a declaratory judgment that its policy did not provide liability or medical payment coverage for Spangle's injuries. Spangle brought a counterclaim for declaratory judgment and damages. After discovery, both Spangle and West-field moved for summary. judgment. At a hearing on January 22, 2008, the court issued an oral ruling that Westfield had a duty to defend 2 under the policy it issued *1273 to the Knapps. On January 24, it entered a final appealable order stating in part that Spangle "is entitled to declaratory judgment insofar as [Westfield] has a duty to defend under coverage of the policy issued by [Westfield] to [Knappl." (Appellant's App. at 148.) It authorized Spangle to submit a proposed order.

Spangle submitted a proposed "Order on Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment" on February 5. (Fd. at 10.) The trial court approved the order, signed it, and entered it nunc pro tune as of January 24 to conform with its earlier final appealable order. The order stated the Ponder truck was "mobile equipment" and thus not within the policy's "motor vehicle" exclusion. The court further determined Spangle was on the Knapp property with permission and was therefore covered under the Medical payments provision of the policy. It therefore granted Spangle's summary judgment motion on the coverage issues but denied summary judgment on the question of bad faith.

On January 80, 20083, Westfield wrote the trial judge asking to be heard on the issue of bad faith. On February 3, West-field filed a second motion for summary judgment in which it asserted for the first time that Spangle was not covered by the Westfield policy because he was acting in furtherance of an "undisclosed partnership." The judge set a hearing on those issues for March 5. After hearing argument, the trial court entered an order that reaffirmed its prior rulings but re-dated the prior order from January 24 to February 5. The court noted it had entertained argument on Westfield's second motion for summary judgment and denied the motion 3

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

1. Standard of Review

On review of a summary judgment, we apply the same standard as the trial court. Summary judgment is appropriate where the evidence designated to the trial court shows both that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Wright v. Am. States Ins. Co., 765 N.E.2d 690, 692 (Ind.Ct.App.2002). 'We will affirm a summary judgment if it is sustainable under any theory or basis found in the evidence designated to the trial court. Id. When material facts are not in dispute, our review is limited to the determination whether the trial court correctly applied the law to the undisputed facts. Id.

When the material facts are undisputed and the question presented is a pure question of law, we review the matter de novo. Id. The interpretation of a con *1274 tract is a matter of law, so cases involving the interpretation of insurance contracts are particularly appropriate for summary judgment. Id. Provisions of insurance contracts are subject to the same rules of construction as other contracts; we interpret an insurance policy with the goal of ascertaining and enforcing the parties' intent as revealed by the insurance contract. Id. In accomplishing that goal we must construe the insurance policy as a whole, rather than considering individual words, phrases, or paragraphs. Id. at 692—93. If 'the contract language is clear and unam-blguous, it' should be given its plain and ordinary meaning. Id. An' unambiguous exclusionary clause is ordinarily entitled to enforcement Id. at 694.

We must accept an mterpretatlon of the contract language that harmonizes the provisions rather than one that. supports a conflicting version of the provisions. Id. at 693. Policy terms are interpreted from the perspective of an ordinary policyholder of average intelligence. Id. If reasonably intelligent persons may honestly differ as to the meaning of the policy language, the policy is ambiguous 4 Id. One way of determining whether reasonable persons might differ is to see if the policy language is susceptible to more than one interpretation. Meridian Mut. Ins. Co. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 698 N.E.2d 770, 773 (Ind.1998).

Terms in a contract are. given their usual and common meaning unless, from the contract, it can be determined some other meaning was intended. Am. Family Ins. Group v. Houin, 777 N.E.2d 757, 761 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), trans. dismissed.

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Bluebook (online)
804 N.E.2d 1270, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 451, 2004 WL 557334, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westfield-companies-v-knapp-indctapp-2004.