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Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London Subscribing to Certificate No. A01BF201 v. Strid4/18/2005
Norene Strid (Strid) was seriously injured and Homer Hensley was killed when a semi-truck hit them while they were walking near a construction site. Strid and Evelyn Kay Hoskins, Personal Representative of the Estate of Homer Hensley (Hensley), appeal the trial court's order granting Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London (Lloyd's) motion for summary judgment and declaratory judgment. We conclude Lloyd's has no duty to indemnify the insureds, Building Busters, Inc. (Building Busters) and Beacon Coal Mining Company, Inc. (Beacon), or additional assureds, for Hensley's and Strid's claims in their lawsuit because the express terms of the automobile exclusion in the policy precludes coverage. We affirm.
FACTS
Donovan Excavation (Donovan) was the subcontractor hired to excavate a construction site located on Eighth Avenue in Seattle. Donovan hired Building Busters to demolish a building on the site. Building Busters used a semi-truck owned by Beacon to move the heavy equipment it needed to the construction site.
On August 12, 2001, Building Busters transported a mobile excavator to the construction site using Beacon's truck and lowboy trailer. The driver was unable to back the entire semi-truck onto the worksite. Instead of leaving the nose of the truck in the street, the Building Busters driver disconnected the trailer from the truck. The driver parked the truck across the street in the driveway of a parking lot. After the excavator was unloaded from the lowboy trailer, the driver started to back the truck out of the driveway towards the trailer at the construction site. While backing up, the truck driver did not see the two pedestrians walking on the sidewalk behind the truck. The truck struck Norene Strid and Homer Hensley. Hensley died from his injuries and Strid was seriously and permanently injured.
Building Busters and Beacon notified their automobile insurance carrier, American Equity Specialty Insurance Company (American Equity), about the accident. American Equity accepted tender of the claim and provided a defense to Building Busters and Beacon.
On April 30, 2002, Strid and Hensley filed a personal injury lawsuit against Building Busters, Beacon, Avalon Bay Communities, Inc., the general contractor and owner of the property being developed, and Donovan. The complaint alleged Building Busters, Avalon and Donovan failed to properly supervise individuals working in the vicinity of the worksite, provide for the safety of pedestrians near the work area, and obtain proper permits for vehicles at the worksite. The complaint also alleged Beacon was negligent in failing to maintain the semi-truck in good working condition because the truck's back-up alarm system did not function properly at the time of the accident.
In October 2003, Lloyd's filed a complaint for declaratory judgment. Lloyd's asked the court to rule that under the terms of the policy, Lloyd's had no duty to defend or indemnify Building Busters, Beacon or additional assured Donovan for claims asserted by Hensley and Strid. Lloyd's argued the liability policy's automobile exclusion applied and precluded coverage for the injuries suffered by Hensley and Strid. Lloyd's also argued coverage was precluded because Building Busters and Beacon breached the cooperation clause in the policy.
On December 19, 2003, Building Busters and Beacon entered into a settlement agreement with Hensley and Strid. Building Busters and Beacon stipulated to a judgment for $2 million and assigned Hensley and Strid their rights under the automobile insurance policy with American Equity and the liability insurance policy with Lloyd's. American Equity agreed to immediately pay its
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