Nelson v. United States Fire Insurance

On this appeal from a summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs, the question presented is whether Roy Jerome Nelson was an “insured” under Endorsement No. 10 of a comprehensive automobile policy issued by defendants.

Nelson, a Berkeley Y.M.C.A. Boys Camp Handyman Manager, was driving a Berkeley Y.M.C.A. truck while carrying out the duties of his employment when the truck broke down on a public highway. He got out of the truck and was walking onto the highway to retrieve a broken part of the truck when he was struck and injured by a privately owned automobile. He died 17 months later without ever having fully recovered. Nelson and the Berkeley Y.M.C.A. incurred medical expenses of over $5,000.

The insurance coverage relied upon by plaintiffs is that provided for in Division 2 of Endorsement No. 10, which provides that the insurer will pay medical expenses “To or for each insured who sustains bodily injury, sickness or disease, caused by accident, while in or upon, or while entering into or alighting from, or through being struck by an automobile. ” (Italics added.) The endorsement further defines the term “insured” to mean “the named insured, if an individual or husband and wife…