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Insurance Claim – Coverage

By: Derek Hawkins//October 22, 2018//

Insurance Claim – Coverage

By: Derek Hawkins//October 22, 2018//

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Bethany H. Olson, et al. v. Wisconsin Mutual Insurance Company

Case No.: 2017AP1567

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Insurance Claim – Coverage

Jeffrey Keyes appeals a judgment dismissing his third party claims against Rural Mutual Insurance Company (Rural) and its agent, Lon Truax, Sr. Keyes asserts he is entitled to coverage for the claims of Bethany, Gunner and Emmajean Olson, all of whom were injured by Keyes’s operation of a personal automobile on a public road. Keyes also appeals an order denying his motion for reconsideration. Keyes seeks coverage under a farm umbrella endorsement attached to a farmowners policy he obtained from Rural through Truax. However, the endorsement contains an exclusion that specifically precludes coverage for the off-farm use of Keyes’s personal automobiles.

On appeal, Keyes asserts the circuit court improperly dismissed his claims for reformation of the farm umbrella endorsement and for agent negligence. He also asserts he is entitled to coverage because the umbrella endorsement is contextually ambiguous. We conclude the endorsement, and its applicable exclusion, unambiguously preclude coverage for the accident here. We also conclude Keyes’s reformation and agent negligence claims were properly dismissed because no reasonable factfinder could conclude, on this record, that Keyes asked Truax to provide him with umbrella coverage for the off-farm use of his personal automobiles. Importantly, Keyes admitted at his deposition that he made no specific request for such coverage at any time. Accordingly, we affirm.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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