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Progressive Universal Insurance Co. of Illinois v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co.4/21/2005
Docket No. 98329-Agenda 13-January 2005
Ronald Abbinante delivered pizzas for Casale Pizza, Inc. While using his mother's minivan to make a delivery, Abbinante struck and injured a pedestrian. The issue in this case is whether Progressive Universal Insurance Company of Illinois (Progressive), which issued the motor vehicle liability insurance policy on Abbinante's mother's van, had a duty to defend and indemnify him in a personal injury action subsequently filed by the injured pedestrian and the pedestrian's wife. In a declaratory judgment action filed by Progressive, the circuit court of Du Page County held that because of a provision in the policy excluding coverage for bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use of the vehicle to carry persons or property for compensation or a fee, including food delivery, the company owed no such duty. The appellate court reversed, finding the exclusion to be void and unenforceable under this state's law mandating liability coverage for permissive users of a vehicle. 347 Ill. App. 3d 411. We granted Progressive's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R. 315. For the reasons that follow, we now reverse the judgment of the appellate court.
The facts are undisputed. Shirley Abbinante owned a minivan which she insured through Progressive. On August 25, 2000, Mrs. Abbinante allowed her son Ronald to use the van to deliver pizzas for Casale Pizza, Inc. The company gave Ronald money for gas and paid him $1.25 for each pizza he delivered. While driving his mother's van in the course of delivering a pizza for the company, Ronald struck a pedestrian named Mikhail Lavit. Lavit and his wife sued Ronald and Casale Pizza to obtain damages for personal injuries, including brain and spinal cord injuries, sustained as a result of the accident.
Progressive began defending Ronald in the personal injury action under a reservation of rights. While that action was underway, the Lavits sought and obtained a payment of $100,000 from their own insurer, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Liberty Mutual). That payment represented the limits of the uninsured-motorist coverage provided by their Liberty Mutual motor vehicle policy.
After paying the policy limits to the Lavits, Liberty Mutual demanded reimbursement of that sum from Progressive. Progressive responded by bringing this action in the circuit court of Du Page County to obtain a declaratory judgment that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Ronald in the Lavits' personal injury action. Liberty Mutual, in turn, asserted a counterclaim against Progressive seeking reimbursement of the sums it had paid to the Lavits under the uninsured-motorist provisions of their policy.
Progressive moved for summary judgment pursuant to section 2-1005 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-1005 (West 2000)) arguing that it owed no duty to defend or indemnify Ronald because his conduct fell within the terms of an exclusion set forth in the policy it issued to Ronald's mother. That exclusion stated that coverage under the policy, including Progressive's duty to defend, did not apply to bodily injury or property damage arising out of
"the ownership, maintenance, or use of a vehicle while being used to carry persons or property for compensation or a fee, including, but not limited to, delivery of * food, or any other products."
Liberty Mutual countered with a cross-motion for summary judgment, arguing that Progressive could not avoid its contractual obligations based on this exclusion because the exclusion was not only ambiguous, but contrary to public policy.
Following a hearing, the circuit court granted the motion for summary
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