Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Harmon

*807 Opinion

Declaratory relief to interpret an automobile insurance policy. Defendants and appellants Harmon and Zamacona appeal from a judgment in favor of plaintiff Farmers Insurance Exchange (Farmers).

Facts

The facts are undisputed. Defendants Alvin and Doris Harmon (Harmons) are insured by plaintiff Farmers. Doris Harmon (Harmon, or where appropriate, insured) was driving a non-owned vehicle in or near Tepic, Mexico, which is approximately 800 miles south of the American border. An accident occurred and Armando Zamacona was seriously injured. Eleason Zamacona, owner of the automobile driven by Harmon, had no insurance coverage. Zamacona brought suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the Harmons, alleging negligence. Farmers provided the insured with a defense, but reserved its right to dispute coverage. It contends that the Harmons were not covered while driving in Mexico more than 75 miles from the border.

The policy, as relevant, provides as follows:

“This policy also applies, except with respect to Part 11, while the automobile is being used for trips into that part of the Republic of Mexico lying not more than 75 miles from the boundary line of the United…

I respectfully dissent.

The majority holds that it would be a “forced” and “strained” construction of the policy to interpret a territorial limitation for “the automobile” to refer only to the automobile described in the policy. I disagree: nothing is more natural. The long and short of this case is that Farmers wants us to hold that “the automobile” really means “whatever automobile the insured is using at the time of the accident.” If that is what Farmers meant to say, it should have given the job of saying it to a nine-year-old child, who surely would have done a better job than the draftsman of the policy under consideration. To say that “the automobile” is “clearly, certainly and unambiguously” not the car for which the Harmons bought insurance, but also one which Mrs. Harmon happened to be driving during a visit to Mexico, flies in the face of insured’s reasonable expectations, violates accepted principles of construction of insurance contracts and ignores many indicia to the contrary in the policy itself.

First, however, there is a red herring that must be exposed. There is a suggestion in the majority opinion that the policy as a whole has some kind of territorial…

Declaratory relief to interpret an automobile insurance policy. Defendants and appellants Harmon and Zamacona appeal from a judgment in favor of plaintiff Farmers Insurance Exchange (Farmers).

The facts are undisputed. Defendants Alvin and Doris Harmon (Harmons) are insured by plaintiff Farmers. Doris Harmon (Harmon, or where appropriate, insured) was driving a non-owned vehicle in or near Tepic, Mexico, which is approximately 800 miles south of the American border. An accident occurred and Armando Zamacona was seriously injured. Eleason Zamacona, owner of the automobile driven by Harmon, had no insurance coverage. Zamacona brought suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the Harmons, alleging negligence. Farmers provided the insured with a defense, but reserved its right to dispute coverage. It contends that the Harmons were not covered while driving in Mexico more than 75 miles from the border.

The policy, as relevant, provides as follows:

First, the company will "pay all damages which the insured becomes legally obliged to pay ... arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the described automobile or a non-owned automobile and to defend…