Case Title: Stofferahn v. Great Am. Ins. Co.

Citation: 244 N.W.2d 160

Docket Number: 

State: minnesota

Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Date: 1976-07-09T00:00:00Z

Document:
244 N.W.2d 160 (1976) Jerome STOFFERAHN, Appellant, v. GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent. No. 46318. Supreme Court of Minnesota. July 9, 1976. Dennis R. Peterson and Michael B. Goodman, Rochester, for appellant. Cousineau, McGuire, Shaughnessy & Anderson, and Harold J. W. Sweet, Minneapolis, for respondent. Considered and decided by the court without oral argument. PER CURIAM. On October 17, 1972, Jerome Stofferahn, plaintiff, acting in the course and scope of his employment as a police officer for the village of Oronoco, was involved in an automobile accident while attempting to make a lawful arrest of one James D. Hoeft. As a result of the accident, Officer Stofferahn was injured. At the time of the accident, the village of Oronoco was a party to a contract of insurance issued by Great American Insurance Company, defendant, and covering the police vehicle which Officer Stofferahn was driving at the time of the accident. The policy had become effective on June 1, 1972. Subsequent to the accident, Officer Stofferahn obtained a settlement from Hoeft in *161 the amount of $20,000, the per person liability limit of Hoeft's insurance policy. He then brought this action against Great American, alleging that it failed to comply with a duty, under Minn.St.1971, §§ 65B.25 and 65B.26(d), to make available to the village of Oronoco underinsured motorist coverage, which coverage would have compensated Officer Stofferahn for the damages which he sustained in excess of the $20,000 he recovered from Hoeft. The trial court granted Great American summary judgment. We affirm. In 1969, the legislature enacted the Supplemental Coverage Act, Minn.St.1971, §§ 65B.24-65B.27.[1] Minn.St.1971, § 65B.25 provided: One of the supplemental coverages set forth in § 65B.26 was the following: However, § 65B.24 provided as follows: The vehicle which Officer Stofferahn was driving at the time of the accident was owned by the village of Oronoco which is a municipal corporation and not a natural person. Thus, Great American was not required to make available to the village underinsured motorist coverage with respect to that automobile, and the award of summary judgment was proper.[2] Plaintiff's argument that Great American is estopped from denying that it is required to make the coverage available to the village lacks merit. Not only did plaintiff fail to produce any evidence that Great American represented that such coverage was provided the village, the pleadings contain no allegation of any form of detrimental reliance on his part. "In the absence of inducement and reliance, no estoppel is created." Lampert Yards v. Thompson-Wetterling Const. & Realty, 302 Minn. 83, 90, 223 N.W.2d 418, 422 (1974). Affirmed. [1] Repealed by L.1974, c. 408. [2] While we do not presume to be certain of the intent of the legislature in exempting non-natural personscorporations, partnerships, etc.from the provisions of the Supplemental Coverage Act, we note that a corporation can only operate a motor vehicle through an agent or employee. An employee injured while operating his employer's vehicle in the scope of his employment would be covered by workers' compensation insurance. A corporation which purchased underinsured motorist coverage would thus be obtaining duplicate coverage for its employees.