David Gay v. Trumbull Insurance Company

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff David Gay appeals the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant Trumbull Insurance Company. Trumbull denied Gay’s insurance claim after concluding that his motorcycle was not an insured vehicle under the subject policy. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm the district court’s judgment.

1. The unconventional definition of “motor vehicle” in the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act, which excludes motorcycles, does not apply to the Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage section of Trumbull’s insurance policy. Nothing in the Act suggests the Minnesota legislature intended its definition to apply to all automobile insurance policies. See Himle v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 445 N.W.2d 587, 590 (Minn. Ct. App. 1989). And the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the definition did not apply to a similar policy. Roering v. Grinnell Mut. Reinsurance Co., 444 N.W.2d 829, 833 (Minn. 1989). Although the Roering court held that the policy exclusion in that case was unenforceable because it permitted less coverage than the Act required at the time, the Minnesota legislature amended the Act in 1991 such that “an…