Travelers Insurance v. Aetna Life & Casualty Co.

5 Citing cases

  1. A & W Maint., Inc. v. First Mercury Ins. Co.

    91 F. Supp. 3d 113 (D. Mass. 2015)   Cited 5 times
    Adopting this rule generally to insurance contracts in a case dealing with both the duty to defend and indemnify

    The “complete operation rule” is used in construing “loading and unloading” clauses in automobile liability insurance policies. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Aetna Life & Cas. Co., 410 Mass. 1002, 1003, 571 N.E.2d 1383 (1991). Under this rule, loading is considered complete when an employee has finished all work in which he was participating or was expected to participate.

  2. Ruggerio Ambulance Service v. National Grange Ins. Co.

    430 Mass. 794 (Mass. 2000)   Cited 71 times
    Holding that insurer had duty to defend suit alleging insured died because of delayed emergency response after an accident when bodily injury caused by an accident was a covered loss

    Ruggerio contends that case law in Massachusetts supports the extension of coverage in "a variety of circumstances involving injuries arising out of the use of an automobile other than in a collision." See Travelers Ins. Co. v. Aetna Life Cas. Co., 410 Mass. 1002 (1991); General Acc. Fire Life Ins. Co. v. Hanley Oil Co., 321 Mass. 72 (1947); Mullen v. Hartford Acc. Indem. Co., 287 Mass. 262 (1934). These cases do not support the proposition that any use or operation of a motor vehicle results in coverage under a motor vehicle policy.

  3. Metropolitan Prop. v. Santos

    55 Mass. App. Ct. 789 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002)   Cited 9 times

    See Cook v. Crowell, 273 Mass. 356, 358 (1930) (unloading clams from vehicle "in the ordinary course of its operation for soliciting trade or in calling for and delivering merchandise" was operation of vehicle under Massachusetts law); Diggins v. Theroux, 314 Mass. 735, 736-737 (1943) (statute providing District Court with exclusive jurisdiction over actions "arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle" satisfied when plaintiff was injured while assisting with loading of show case into truck transporting merchandise from shop);Nichols Co. v. Travelers Ins. Co., 343 Mass. 494, 497 (1962) (finding insurer liable for injuries sustained by pedestrian when she was struck by bale of cashmere wool being unloaded from insured truck). See alsoTravelers Ins. Co. v. Aetna Life Cas. Co., 410 Mass. 1002 (1991) (insurer liable for injuries to woman under automobile insurance policy where insured's employees dropped woman while in process of "loading" her and her wheelchair into van). Metropolitan argues that loading and unloading is only a covered use under a business automobile insurance policy that expressly includes loading and unloading as a use.

  4. Am. Home Assur. Co. v. First Spec. Ins. Co.

    73 Mass. App. Ct. 1 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008)   Cited 12 times
    Discussing the expansive interpretation given to “arising out of” when that phrase is used in insurance policies

    These facts provide a sufficient causal connection between the loading of the tanker truck and Bone's resulting injury. See Travelers Ins. Co. v. Aetna Life Cas. Co., 410 Mass. 1002, 1003-1004 (1991). Although we find in our cases sufficient causal connection, based on a reading of the term "arising out of," to affirm the judgment, we note that cases elsewhere in similar circumstances also find coverage under automobile policies, rather than general liability policies.

  5. Metro. Prop. Cas. Ins. v. Santos, No

    No. 000628A (Mass. Cmmw. Oct. 18, 2000)

    Massachusetts has long held that the operation or use of an insured motor vehicle includes the loading and unloading of that vehicle. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Aetna Life and Casualty Co., 410 Mass. 1002, 1003 (1991) (finding that the insured motor vehicle was being operated when a woman in a wheelchair was injured when people carrying her to the vehicle lost their footing on the porch of her residence and dropped her down the steps of the porch); Nichols Co., Inc. v. Travelers Ins. Co., 343 Mass. 494, 497 (1962) (finding insurance company liable for injuries sustained by a pedestrian injured when she was struck by a bale of wool being unloaded from the insured vehicle); Diggins v. Theroux, 314 Mass. 735, 737 (1943) (finding operation of a vehicle occurring when a man stood beside the vehicle on the curb to assist with loading of a show case into the vehicle); Cook v. Crowell, 273 Mass. 356, 358-59 (1930) (finding unloading clams from a vehicle was operation of that vehicle under Massachusetts law). Under the Massachusetts completed act doctrine, a motor vehicle is in "use" if people are in the process of loading or unloading that vehicle and that task is still incomplete when the accident in qu