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McPhee v. Tufty3/20/2001
Appeal from the District Court of Sargent County, Southeast Judicial District, the Honorable Ronald E. Goodman, Judge.
REVERSED.
Opinion of the Court by Sandstrom, Justice.
[ ] AMCO Insurance Company ("AMCO") appealed from an amended judgment awarding Lory L. McPhee and Roy McPhee, individually and as the surviving parents of Sandra A. McPhee, $100,000 from the proceeds of an automobile liability insurance policy AMCO issued to Curtis and Debra Tufty. We conclude the trial court erred in ruling the AMCO insurance policy provided coverage under the circumstances, and we reverse.
I.
[ ] In 1994, Curtis and Debra Tuftys' teenage son, Christopher Tufty, lived in Gwinner with his parents and brother and sister, Travis and Amanda Tufty. In September 1994, Curtis and Debra Tufty renewed until March 1995 an automobile liability insurance policy they had purchased from AMCO through Brian Orn of the Forman Insurance Agency. The policy limits of the AMCO policy were $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident, and Curtis, Debra and Travis Tufty were listed on the original application as "Drivers." Christopher and Amanda Tufty were listed as "Children Or Others In Household Not Driving." A 1983 Ford van, a 1979 GMC pickup, and a 1983 Dodge four-door were listed on the declarations page of the policy as the insured vehicles.
[ ] After Christopher Tufty turned 16 years old in April 1994, his parents bought him a 1978 Ford pickup for $500, and the pickup was insured effective May 25, 1994, under the AMCO policy. The engine failed shortly thereafter, and the Ford pickup was dropped from coverage on June 13, 1994. Orn was not informed Christopher was the principal user of the pickup when coverage was obtained.
[ ] On June 16, 1994, Curtis Tufty wrote a $650 check for the purchase of a 1973 Pontiac LeMans. According to Curtis and Christopher Tufty, the teenager paid his father for the car from money he had saved while working part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer. Curtis Tufty said he wrote a check for the Pontiac to make a record of the transaction because Christopher Tufty did not have a checking account.
[ ] Curtis and Debra Tufty wanted to add the Pontiac to their AMCO policy, but Orn requested a driving record for Christopher Tufty. The driving record revealed he had been convicted in 1993 of operating a vehicle without a license and fleeing a law enforcement officer, resulting in his license being suspended for more than 100 days. Orn told Curtis Tufty that AMCO would not cover Christopher Tufty because of his driving record. Orn obtained quotations for coverage from three high-risk insurance carriers, and on September 16, 1994, Orn prepared an application for insurance for the Pontiac with Farm and City Insurance Company ("Farm and City"). The application listed Curtis Tufty as the "Owner" and Christopher Tufty as one of the "Operators." The application informed the company AMCO would not insure Christopher Tufty because of his "driving record." Farm and City issued a policy effective September 16, 1994, to December 16, 1994, which had liability coverage limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. Orn opened a second file with a second log relating to Christopher Tufty. Curtis and Debra Tufty continued to pay the premium on the AMCO policy and also paid the premium on the Farm and City policy.
[ ] In the meantime, AMCO requested information from Orn during summer 1994 about the status of Christopher Tufty as a driver under its policy. AMCO sent two requests for the information in August and September 1994, but Orn did not respond with an update on his driver status.
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