Emery Horvatin Mary Horvatin v. Allstate Life Insurance Company

Emery and Mary Horvatin appeal the district court’s finding that the Accidental Death and Dismemberment policy they purchased from Allstate Insurance Company does not cover Emery’s injuries. We affirm.

FACTS

The Certificate of Insurance the Horva-tins received from Allstate provided benefits for loss of life, hands, feet, or the sight of an eye. The policy defined “loss” thus:

During the policy period Emery Horvatin was paralyzed from the waist down in a three-wheeled off-the-road vehicle accident in Mexico. Allstate denied Horvatin’s claim for the loss of use of his feet, contending that the policy only covered the actual loss of feet severed at or above the ankle.

The Horvatins filed a complaint alleging breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of Cal.Ins.Code § 790.03. The parties agreed to allow the district court to determine initially, on a motion for partial summary judgment, whether the policy covered Horvatin’s injuries assuming (1) his spinal cord was severed, or (2) his spinal cord was not severed. The district court found no coverage, regardless of whether the spinal cord was severed. Horvatin v. Allstate Life…