State Farm Mutual Auto. Insurance Co. v. Murphy
2019 IL App (2d) 180154 (Ill. App., 2019)Words & Phrases
Permissive User: In GeneralTrial Judge
Robert P. PilmerAppellate Judge
McLarenHolding
Driver, who was permissive user of vehicle, was not covered as an insured by umbrella liability policy;Fact Summary
On September 11, 2015, a multivehicle accident occurred at the intersection of Grove Road and U.S. Route 52 in Kendall County. At the intersection, Grove Road was controlled by a stop sign, and Route 52 was a through-road without any traffic signals. When the accident occurred, Hollander was driving Wendland’s 2015 Nissan Altima south on Grove Road. Wendland and Guarino were passengers, with Wendland in the front passenger seat and Guarino in the back seat, and they were en route to visit Wendland’s daughters in Iowa. Meanwhile, Flowers was traveling east on Route 52 near Grove Road. Keith Keigher was driving a semitractor-trailer in the scope of his employment with J-M Transport, Inc. (J-M), traveling west on Route 52 near Grove Road. The accident occurred when the Nissan collided with the tractor-trailer, which then collided with Flowers’s vehicle. Hollander died as a result of the collision.
Plaintiff acknowledged that Hollander was a “permissive user” of the Nissan. However, plaintiff sought a declaration that it did not owe an obligation to defend or indemnify Hollander’s estate under a $1 million umbrella policy it had issued to Wendland that was effective at the time of the accident.
Plaintiff alleged and argued the following. Plaintiff had no duty to defend or indemnify Hollander’s estate under the umbrella policy “because [Hollander] does not qualify as an insured” under the umbrella policy.