Travelers Indemnity Co. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

Isabelle M. Hart, originally the plaintiff in this action in the court below, had recovered in a California state court a money judgment against Bruce Allen Ray in the sum of $57,500 for damages on account of injuries received by Mrs. Hart as the result of Ray’s negligent operation of a certain automobile. At the time of the injuries, Bruce Allen Ray was fifteen years of age. He was in the company of two other fifteen year old boys, one of whom, Thomas Risse, was the son of J. A. Risse, who owned the automobile that Ray was driving. Ray’s father, James Ray, was the holder of an automobile liability policy issued by The Travelers Indemnity Company, which insured James Ray against liability for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the maintenance or use of a described “owned automobile” or any “non-owned automobile.” The policy also provided for insurance of other persons, reciting that with respect to a non-owned automobile, a relative of James Ray should also be deemed an insured under the policy, “provided the actual use thereof is with the permission of the owner.”

Asserting that Bruce Allen Ray was at the time here in question operating the Risse automqbile with the…