The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has overturned the lower courts ruling and decided that an insurer must defend a horse farm and equestrian center in a golf cart accident. The case is Am. Bankers Ins. Co. v. Shockley, No. 20-1938, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 19107 (7th Cir. June 28, 2021).

St. Charles Farms (SCF), an Illinois-based horse farm and equestrian center, was in the business of maintaining, training, and boarding horses, and providing riding lessons. SFC was insured under a farmowners policy by American Bankers Insurance Co., an Assurant Inc. unit. The policy provided supplemental coverage for bodily injury arising out of a  motorized vehicle designed only for use off of public roads, which is used to service the insured premises. Exclusion six in the policy clarifies that there is no coverage for bodily injury or property damage arising from use of a motorized vehicle except as provided by the supplemental coverage referenced above.

In November 2016, within the policy period, SFC employee, Ashley Ratay,  transported horses, equipment, and an SFC golf cart from the farm to a riding center about fifteen miles away from the farm property. While at the riding center, Ratay was responsible for supervising people riding SFC horses. She did so while riding around on the SFC golf cart. At some point, Robert Shockley was a passenger on the golf cart. While he was in the passenger seat, Ratay used the golf cart to chase a horse. She quickly drove the cart off of the mowed path and onto a grassy field where the cart hit some uneven ground. Shockley flew out of the vehicle and landed on the ground, where Ratay ran over his leg.