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Erie Insurance Co. v. Maxwell9/29/1999
STATE OF OHIO
COUNTY OF WAYNE
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
This cause was heard upon the record in the trial court. Each error assigned has been reviewed and the following Disposition is made:
Appellants Suzanne and Lawrence Maxwell have appealed from a judgment of the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas that granted declaratory judgment in favor of Appellee Erie Insurance Company. This Court reverses.
I.
Suzanne and Lawrence Maxwell, husband and wife, are the owners of a 1996 Chevrolet Camaro covered by an automobile insurance policy issued by Erie Insurance Company (Erie). The Maxwells' insurance policy covered all perils including collision, theft, and other comprehensive accident events. On September 25, 1996, Mrs. Maxwell filed a report with the Barberton Police Department alleging that the Camaro had been stolen from her residence sometime between the evening of September 24, 1996 and the early morning hours of September 25, 1996. Later that day, the Barberton Police Department informed the Maxwells that the vehicle had been found abandoned in Doylestown, Ohio, in a damaged condition. Also on September 25, 1996, the Maxwells notified Erie that the vehicle had been stolen and damaged, and they submitted a claim for the full value of the vehicle.
Approximately ten days after the vehicle had been reported stolen, the Barberton Police Department determined that the vehicle had not, in fact, been stolen. Mrs. Maxwell admitted that the vehicle had not been stolen. She had been operating the vehicle and had been involved in an accident. Mrs. Maxwell later entered a plea of no contest to the charge of making a false report to a law enforcement agency in violation of Section 648.09 of the Barberton City Ordinances. The Barberton Municipal Court found her guilty and sentenced her to ten days of house arrest.
On September 30, 1996, Mr. Maxwell, in a recorded interview, was questioned by a representative of Erie regarding the theft claim. Although Mr. Maxwell was aware by that time that the vehicle had not been stolen, he continued to represent to the insurance company that it had been stolen. On or about October 9, 1996, Erie became aware that the car had not been stolen; therefore, the Maxwells' claim was reassigned as a property damage claim. On October 22, 1996, Suzanne Maxwell gave a statement to Erie regarding the damage claim. At that time, she informed Erie that she had been driving the car on September 25, 1996, and that she had been involved in an accident.
Mrs. Maxwell stated that, on the evening of September 24, 1996, she went to a bar called the Double Eagle in Barberton to play in a dart tournament. She stated that she played darts from 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. until approximately 11:30 p.m. or 12:00 a. m. The accident occurred while she was heading to another bar to pick up one friend and to drop another friend, Frank Fisk , off at his home.
Mrs. Maxwell informed Erie that she lost control of the car on a slick road and drove into a ditch. The car was heavily damaged, but she backed the car out of the ditch and parked it in a field. She stated that they started walking toward Barberton until someone stopped and gave them a ride. Mrs. Maxwell claimed that she was in "shock" because it was the first accident that she had ever been in and that Mr. Fisk was screaming at her to get out of there. She said that she reported the car as stolen because she was scared and didn't know what to do. The next day, Mrs. Maxwell informed Erie that there was another passenger, Robert Oxley, in the car at the time of the accident.
On January 23, 1997, Erie filed a complaint in the Wa
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