A tragic event occurred in 1975 but we are presenting this court case now as a valuable reminder of how alcohol and cold temperatures can be fatal. A young man used his father's car to drive an intoxicated friend home. The young man decided to stop at a local bar on the way home to get a drink while the friend remained in the car. He stumbled while leaving the bar and broke his leg.

The young man was taken to the hospital, but he did not communicate the information about the friend. The temperature dropped to dangerous levels that night and the young man's friend died because of the low temperature.

The young man's father's Homeowners insurer denied coverage when the friend's widow filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the father's son.

Click here to see if the courts agreed with the carrier that the death was due to a motor vehicle and was not covered.

The 1975 and the current Homeowners policies are similar in that both exclude motor vehicle-related incidents. Another similarity is that, as in 1975, parties continue to disagree with respect to accidents that occur in or around automobiles that are not necessarily directly related to operation of the vehicle being excluded.

Click here to review the PF&M Homeowners' Motor Vehicle Exclusion Analysis.

Consider the situation above but instead of a son driving his father's vehicle imagine an employee driving his employer's car and driving home a customer whom he has been entertaining. The employee stops at another customer's business and sustains the broken leg. The rest of the story is the same with the same tragic ending. However, the widow sues the insured employer for its employee's actions.

The CGL Coverage Form also has a very strict aircraft, auto, or watercraft exclusion but the question for the courts is whether it applies.

Click here to review the PF&M Commercial Liability Coverage Aircraft, Auto, and Watercraft Exclusion Analysis.

The tragedy of this court case is that a person died due to a combination of intoxication and negligence. If the parties could do it all over again, they probably would have done things quite differently.

Your customers will probably appreciate a timely reminder at this time of year when the weather can be treacherous, and spending time inside drinking with friends and clients is common.

Click here for an emarketing article you can use in your various communications to encourage customers to be aware of how drinking can affect them and others.