The cases examined are James River Ins. Co. v. Doswell Truck Stop, LLC, 827 S.E.2d 374 (Va. 2019), Crum & Forster Specialty Ins. Co. v. DVO, Inc., 939 F.3d 852 (7th Cir. 2019) and Universal Cable Prods., LLC v. Atl. Specialty Ins. Co., 929 F.3d 1143 (9th Cir. 2019). (Credit: everything possible/Shutterstock)
No matter the type of insurance, policy exclusions are always of critical importance. From the war exclusion to contractual liability, decisions based on exclusions to coverage featured prominently in 2019.
1. Truck stop's insurance excluded coverage for injuries allegedly suffered from exploding tire
The Virginia Supreme Court overturned a circuit court decision and unanimously held that an insurer was not obligated to indemnify a truck stop under a commercial liability policy for litigation involving injuries caused by an exploding tire. The dispute arose when a truck stop employee invited a customer into the garage area while the employee repaired the tire on the customer's tractor-trailer. According to the court's ruling, the employee over-inflated the tire, causing it to explode and injure the customer. The truck stop's insurer denied coverage, contending that the claim was precluded by the policy's auto exclusion for coverage arising out of an auto's maintenance. The insurer filed a declaratory action against the truck stop seeking a coverage determination.
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