James K. Wilkinson and Charmine Wilkinson v. The Home Insurance Company

The Home Insurance Company (“Home”) appeals from a summary judgment in favor of the Wilkinsons in their action to recover for the loss of a tender which they claimed was covered by their yacht insurance policy with Home. The issue is whether the loss of the tender was excluded under the terms of the policy because the property was stolen while it was tied up on the beach and the policy excluded loss by theft “unless the property be in a fully enclosed area into which there be visible evidence of forcible entry or unless the property be forcibly removed from the yacht.”

Home insured the Wilkinsons’ yacht and tender. On September 5, 1976, the Wilkinsons went ashore in the tender and, after landing, they chained the tender to a volley ball net standard on the grounds of the Sheraton Maui Hotel. Upon their return, they discovered that the tender was gone. They filed a claim with Home for the loss of the tender. Home denied the claim, and the Wilkinsons brought this action on the policy.

The policy has a special “tenders clause” which provides, in pertinent part, that the term “yacht” includes the tender “whether attached to the yacht or not, subject to all the terms and conditions…