Believe it or not: The ‘Coverage for Dummies’ Hall of Fame- Dumb things, done by dumb people, that result in crazy claims.
For the past eight Januaries I have published an article called “Coverage for Dummies.” It’s a review of the most notable cases, from the year just concluded involving people who did, well, really dumb stuff, and then turned around and sought insurance coverage for their consequences.
Liability insurance is, by definition, a product that provides financial protection when things don’t turn out as planned. Most of the time when this occurs it’s simply a case of bad luck or because, well, stuff just happens. But there are other times when liability claims are the result of peoples’ actions that were so ill-conceived or foolhardy that a claim was as predictable as day following night.
Eventually the incredulous behavior leads to a lawsuit, which leads to an insurance claim, which leads to a coverage dispute, which leads to a reported decision, which leads to the final stage of this insurance circle of life — an appearance in “Coverage for Dummies.”
This year, instead of looking at the best “Dummies” cases of 2016, I have taken a different tack, creating the “Coverage for Dummies” Hall of Fame. These are the cases that make even the dumbest people look as cautious as Felix Unger.
It’s easy to make fun of these cases. But the list — grouped generally by insurance category — actually says a lot about the role of insurance in society. In many of the cases the court is required to address whether people can pass off responsibility for knowingly foolish conduct under policies designed to prevent “accidents.”
Auto insurance cases
Serious bodily injuries were sustained by motorists who drove off the road, after swerving to avoid hitting a target deer that a group of high school friends had placed 15 to 30 yards beyond the crest of a hill, at night, in the middle of an unlit two-lane roadway, with a speed limit of 55 mph. Why did they do this? To observe the reactions of motorists suddenly confronted with an obstruction directly in front of them. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Campbell, No. 09AP-306, 2009 Ohio App. Lexis 5096 (Ohio Ct. App. Nov. 17, 2009).
A driver injured a person with his automobile, then exited the vehicle and struck the victim three times with a golf club, breaking three ribs — all in response to the victim entering the insured’s property to retrieve a baseball accidentally hit onto the insured’s property by the victim’s son. Farmers Auto. Ins. Ass’n. v. Danner, No. 4-08-0905, 2009 Ill. App. Lexis 992 (Ill. App. Ct. Sept. 3, 2009).
When you intentionally hit someone with your car, even if you just slowly roll forward into them, you cannot avoid the “intentional act” exclusion by maintaining that “It was nothing,” and concluding that any sober person could and would have moved. Oh, did I mention, the victim was missing part of one leg and using crutches? Hurst v. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co., No. 11-162, 2011 Ark. App. LEXIS 701 (Ark. App. Ct. Nov. 2, 2011).
In an attempt to annoy his girlfriend, an insured repeatedly grabbed the steering while she was driving. When she tried to push him away, she lost control of the car and hit a concrete wall. It would have been safer to just ask — every five minutes — “Are we almost there?” Sunshine State Ins. Co. v. Jones, 77 So. 3d 254 (Fla. Ct. App. 2012).
Sports and ‘entertainment’
What not to allegedly do at a little league game: Sit behind home plate, in the lowest row of the bleachers, and tell the catcher, who is someone else’s son, that he is making too many mistakes. And especially don’t do it six or seven times in one inning. And really don’t do it if you need a cane to walk. Baggett v. Allstate Ins. Co., 39 So. 3d 666 (La. Ct. App. 2010).
What else not to allegedly do at a little league game, in particular when you’re the league president: Assault a spectator, causing multiple facial fractures, including a broken nose, septum and permanent nerve damage. And double especially don’t do it when the spectator is a player’s grandmother. Nellie Ellison v. Kentucky Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., No. 2009-CA-116, 2010 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 567 (Ky. App. Ct. July 9, 2010).
Two men, as part of a celebration of the upcoming birth of a child of one of them, held a party — a “diaper shootout” — to which guests could bring diapers for the new baby and enjoy an afternoon shooting guns. As a grand finale they decided to blow up an old refrigerator. Guests stood behind tables 50 meters away from the refrigerator with explosives placed inside. Upon firing at the refrigerator it immediately blew apart and sent shrapnel flying across the yard. A piece of shrapnel hit a guest’s hand, nearly severing it. Yikes. This guy is going to be a parent. Blank-Greer v. Tannerite Sports, LLC, No. 13-1266 (N.D. Ohio Apr. 21, 2015).
An insured was injured when he used his pickup truck and a pulley in an attempt to lift a portable toilet onto a deer stand. Hays v. Georgia Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 722 S.E.2d 923 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012).
A man’s eight-year-old son was playing with friends and wanted to get some sparklers out of the car. Dad used his keyless remote to open the door but did not follow his son to the car — nor check up on him for the next few hours. It turns out that his son didn’t retrieve just sparklers from the car (as if that would have been OK) but he took bottle rockets, too. One of the friends lit a bottle rocket that hit another in the eye. Auto Club Property Casualty Ins. Co. v. B.T., 596 Fed. Appx. 409 (6th Cir. 2015).
Homeowners
An insured responded to a property-line dispute by attaching to the fence-at-issue life-sized paper targets cut into the shape of human beings and riddled with bullet holes. And that was probably his tamest response. Browning v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., No. 09-1375, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 19697 (10th Cir. Sept. 22, 2010) (applying Colorado law).
A mother was out shopping and her daughters were arguing. Then, 16-year-old Francesca retaliated against her 13-year-old sister, Gabriella, by pushing a lit piece of paper into a vent connecting their bedrooms. As a result, the house caught fire and was extensively damaged. Remy v. Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co., No. 11-3564, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81701 (N.D. Ill. June 11, 2013).
In a category that always has a lot of contenders – Fights Between Neighbors – the award goes to Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Masters, Nos. 10-629 and 11-174, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59306 (D. Hawaii June 2, 2011). The insured shined spotlights on a neighbor’s property that were of such high intensity that they interfered with the targeted neighbors’ sleeping patterns and presented a danger to the Native Hawaiian shearwater birds in the area.
Bars and restaurants
The insured bit off a portion of someone’s nose in a bar fight. What started this, you wonder? One woman pretended “to borrow” a cigarette out of another woman’s purse. Perhaps that’s why the box carries a warning that smoking can be hazardous to your health. Metropolitan Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Nieto, No. 13-5805, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90658 (W.D. Wash. July 2, 2014).
In a category that always has a lot of contenders – Bad Bar Security – the award goes to Rizzi v. United States Liability Ins. Co., No. 095010775S, 2010 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1808 (Conn. Super. Ct. July 13, 2010): A patron spent six hours in a gentlemen’s club drinking, locked himself in the men’s room for 30 minutes, emerged completely naked, after which club employees tied his pants around his waist, wrapped his head in a shirt and ridiculed him as he was escorted out of the establishment, whereupon he fell down an embankment and was killed.
Professional liability
A motivational speaker sought coverage for injuries sustained by a program participant when, at the repeated urgings of the speaker, the participant attempted to break a board with her hands. Ouch! Reese v. Alea London Ltd., No. 3:07-cv-1402, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29951 (D.S.C. Apr. 11, 2008).
A dentist used street cocaine to anesthetize a patient’s gums during a root canal procedure. (I would have commented on this, except I’m speechless.) Physicians Ins. Co. of Wisconsin v. Williams, 279 P.3d 174 (Nev. 2012).
What not to say in a letter of recommendation for an anesthesiologist whom you fired after suspecting that he was diverting Demerol for personal use and whom you found passed out in the break room from taking Valium: an “excellent anesthesiologist” and “highly” recommended. Preau v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., No. 09-4252, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77210 (E.D. La. July 30, 2010).
A court addressed coverage for claims against a real estate agent who showed a house — and that’s not all he showed — while its owners were out of the country. Warning: Hand sanitizer (and black light) required. Safeco Ins. Co. v. Skar, No. 10-4789, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82548 (D. Minn. July 27, 2011).
Article by Randy Maniloff- An attorney at White and Williams, LLP in Philadelphia, where he represents insurers in coverage disputes under a host of policies. He is the co-author of General Liability Insurance Coverage – Key Issues in Every State (3rd edition, National Underwriter) and the publisher of the newsletter and website www.CoverageOpinions.info, where you can read a longer version of this list.
