Cole Cooper, a motorcyclist, was injured when he struck a trailer that was parked alongside a road. He sued the trailer’s owner, Rick’s Blacktop & Paving Company (Rick’s). Rick’s, at the time of loss, was insured by a Commercial General Liability Policy and a Business Automobile Policy, both issued by Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company (Grinnell). The court granted Grinnell’s summary judgment, ruling that neither the CGL nor the BAP provided coverage for Cooper’s loss and Cooper appealed.
The higher court focused on the arguments regarding the BAP as it concurred that the CGL’s auto exclusion applied, so no coverage existed under that policy. With regard to the BAP, Cooper re-asserted that the BAP did provide coverage. While the parties presented several arguments and counter-arguments, the court believed that the trailer that was parked on the roadside was at the heart of the matter. Cooper argued that coverage applied while Grinnell countered that, as the trailer was not listed on the BAP’s vehicle schedule, it was ineligible for coverage. Important, both parties agreed that, while the trailer was not attached to a vehicle at the time of loss, a Rick’s employee did use a company dump truck to park the trailer and that truck was scheduled on the BAP.
The higher court balanced the issue of whether the loss was the result of the use of a covered vehicle versus the requirement of a vehicle, in this case a trailer, had to appear on the BAP policy schedule. The court held that enforcing the requirement that the trailer be listed would act as an unreasonable exclusion since it was at the loss site due directly to the use of a covered vehicle,
The lower court decision was affirmed with regard to the exclusion under the CGL, but reversed with regard to the applicability of the BAP. The matter was remanded in light of the court’s decision.
Cole J. Cooper., Plaintiff-Appellee v.Rick’s Blacktop & Paving Co. and James Lee Cherry, Defendants, Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company, Defendant-Respondent. CtAppWisc. No. 2014AP966 Filed March 19, 2015. Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part and Remanded. Westlaw 864 N.W 2d.
