From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Smith v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Co.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
Jun 18, 1969
32 A.D.2d 854 (N.Y. App. Div. 1969)

Opinion

June 18, 1969


Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Ulster County, granting respondent's motion for summary judgment, denying appellant's motion for summary judgment and directing an assessment of damages to fix the respondent's award. Two of respondent's natural infant daughters were injured in an automobile accident while passengers in an automobile owned and operated by respondent's stepdaughter, Peggy Perry. Respondent seeks to recover for the injuries sustained by his infant daughters under the medical payment provisions of an "automobile combination family policy" issued to him by appellant. Respondent's recovery depends on whether Peggy Perry was a "relative" of respondent under the terms of the policy. The policy defines "relative" as "a relative of the named insured who is a resident of the same household." This definition, which restates the word itself, does not, of course, satisfactorily clarify the issue. While we recognize that doubtful construction of terms utilized in an insurance policy is resolved in the insured's favor and against the insurer ( McGuinness v. MVAIC, 18 A.D.2d 1100; Appleton v. Merchants Mut. Ins., 16 A.D.2d 361, 363) and that the word "relative" as utilized in insurance policies has been construed either narrowly or broadly to provide coverage ( McGuinness v. MVAIC, supra; Appleton v. Merchants Mut. Ins., supra; Indiana Mut. Ins. Co. v. Passalacqua, 30 Misc.2d 626, 629), in the final analysis the test is reasonability ( Harris v. Allstate Ins. Co., 309 N.Y. 72, 76) — what meaning do the words convey as understood in their plain, popular and ordinary sense ( Mansbacher v. Prudential Ins. Co., 273 N.Y. 140, 144) — and from the viewpoint of the average man ( McGrail v. Equitable Life Assur. Soc., 292 N.Y. 419, 424; Tonkin v. California Ins. Co., 294 N.Y. 326, 329). When "relative" is considered along with the limiting phrase "resident of the same household", the policy intent to deny coverage to other cars readily available to covered persons within the same household is noted, and the close affinity, although not consanguinity, present in the stepdaughter-stepfather relationship is recognized, it is our opinion that Peggy Perry was a "relative" under the policy giving that term its plain, ordinary meaning as understood by the average man ( Fidelity Cas. Co. of N.Y. v. Jackson, 297 F.2d 230). In any event, although the parties do not argue the point, we note that the term "named insured" means respondent "and also includes his spouse, if a resident of the same household". If respondent's wife does reside with him, then it would seem that her daughter Peggy Perry is a relative of a "named insured" and her automobile accordingly excluded. Order reversed, on the law and the facts, respondent's motion for summary judgment denied, and appellant's motion for summary judgment granted, without costs. Gibson, P.J., Herlihy, Staley, Jr., and Greenblott, JJ., concur in memorandum Per Curiam. Reynolds, J., concurs in the result.


Summaries of

Smith v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Co.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
Jun 18, 1969
32 A.D.2d 854 (N.Y. App. Div. 1969)
Case details for

Smith v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Co.

Case Details

Full title:RAYMOND J. SMITH, Respondent, v. PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL INSURANCE CO.…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department

Date published: Jun 18, 1969

Citations

32 A.D.2d 854 (N.Y. App. Div. 1969)
300 N.Y.S.2d 975

Citing Cases

Allstate v. Chia-I Lung

This is consonant with extending coverage to the insured son and daughter-in-law against the claim of the…

Smith v. State Farm Fire Cas. Co.

The State Farm defendants demonstrated that the plaintiff, the named insureds' daughter-in-law, who resided…