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Cole v. State Farm Mutual Insurance Company6/14/2000
uses damage that is unforeseen or unexpected by the insured, the act is an `accident' under a general liability policy. Sheets, 342 Md. at 652, 679 A.2d at 548. [alteration in original].
Thus, under the cases cited to us by Respondent, as clarified by Sheets and by parity of reasoning, if Ms. Cole's death had been caused by a negligent act committed by Mr. Cave we unhesitatingly would hold that her death was the result of an "accident." We now consider whether we may extend this approach to interpretation of the word "accident" in the context of the intentional conduct that did cause her death.
This Court has not been faced with the question of whether an intentional tort may be considered an "accident" as that term is used in accidental death insurance coverage. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, however, has addressed this issue. In Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins. v. Evans, 943 F. Supp. 564 (D.Md.1996), the court was faced with a similar set of facts to those presented here. In the underlying facts of Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins., Ms. Hawkins murdered her husband of ten years, Mr. Hawkins, by setting his bed on fire while he was sleeping. At the time of his murder, Mr. Hawkins was insured under two first party accidental death and dismemberment policies. The policies obligated the insurers to pay for losses "due to an accident." The estate of Mr. Hawkins filed a claim under both policies, but the insurance companies refused to pay because, in their estimation, Mr. Hawkins's death was not an "accident" under the terms of the policies.
The case came before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The insurance companies argued that due to an alleged pattern of severe abuse by Mr. Hawkins against Ms. Hawkins, his murder was not an unexpected or unforseen event and therefore not an "accident." To resolve the insurance companies' argument, the court first assayed to define the term "accident." The court stated that in defining "accident" in the case of an intentional homicide, the prevailing view is to look at the facts "from the viewpoint of the insured, not that of the killer." Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins., 943 F. Supp. at 568. (citations omitted). The court explained that:
` he majority of courts do not perceive the slaying through the eyes of the murderer, which would undoubtedly reflect a wilful, deliberate, calculated act rather than an accident. Instead they see the killing from the viewpoint of the victim to whom, absent misconduct from which he or she should have reasonably anticipated that he or she would be killed, the murder is unforeseen, unexpected and accidental within the terms of the insurance policy.' Thus, the necessary inquiry in the within case focuses on what Mr. Hawkins' viewpoint was of the act which caused his death. Id. (quoting Lamb v. Northwestern Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 56 Md. App. 125, 130, 467 A.2d 182 (1983)).
After making clear that the victim's perspective would control the court's analysis of the events, it explained and applied a two-part test to determine whether Mr. Hawkins should have expected, subjectively or objectively, that his wife would kill him. See id. (citing Wickman v. Northwestern Nat'l Life Ins., 908 F.2d 1077 (1st Cir. 1990)). The subjective part of the test entailed the court inquiring whether the insured expected an attack similar to the kind which occurred. See id. If insufficient evidence existed to determine that the insured actually expected to be attacked, then the court would advance to the second, objective inquiry. In this prong of the test, the court inquires whether a reasonable person with the same knowledge and experience as the insured would have viewed the injury as highly likely to oc
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