Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
Insurer wins dispute over Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage exclusion
Daniel Mikolasik was hurt in a motor vehicle accident while occupying a car that is registered in his wife's name. He had insurance on his car through Farmers and his wife had insurance through Citizens on her car. Mikolasik had paid for Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UM/UIM) on his policy but his wife apparently had not. Mikolasik brought an action against his carrier, Farmers Insurance, to collect UIM benefits due to the seriousness of his injuries.
The Court upheld the exclusion in Farmer's policy that eliminated coverage when Mikolasik was operating a car owned by a family member but not insured with Farmers. Any other car in the world and MIkolasik would have been covered: riding with his wife in her car, he wasn't. Do you think their agent explained that exclusion at the time they paid for the policy?