Title: BG&E Home v. Owens

State: maryland

Issuer: Maryland Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND
No. 119
September Term, 2002
_________________________________________
BGE HOME PRODUCTS
& SERVICES, INC., et al.
v.
MICHAEL BRIAN OWENS, et al.
__________________________________________
Bell, C.J.
        Eldridge
       
Raker
Wilner
Cathell
Harrell
Battaglia, 
                                
         JJ.
__________________________________________
Opinion by Eldridge, J.
_________________________________________
Filed:   October 6, 2003
“As we have pointed out on several occasions, the Maryland statutory
provisions regulating motor vehicle insurance are comprehensive . . . [and] mandate
compulsory motor vehicle insurance or approved self-insurance,” Lewis v. Allstate, 368
Md. 44, 47, 792 A.2d 272, 273  (2002), and cases there cited.  See Maryland Code
(1977, 2002 Repl. Vol.), §§ 17-103 through 17-110 of the Transportation Article; Code
(1997, 2002 Repl. Vol.), §§ 19-502 through 19-513 of the Insurance Article.  The
present declaratory judgment action requires us to explore the nature of the “approved
self-insurance” alternative.
I.
A.
This declaratory judgment action arises out of a motor vehicle accident involving
a service van, registered in Maryland, owned by the plaintiff-appellant D. L. Peterson
Trust, and leased to the plaintiff-appellant BGE Home Products & Services, Inc.
(Hereafter, both plaintiffs-appellants will collectively be referred to as “BGE”).  The
service van was assigned to Michael Brian Owens, a BGE employee.
A BGE directive, dated March 31, 1994, prohibited any employee from operating
a BGE vehicle if the employee had consumed any alcohol or illegal substances.  The
directive also authorized an employee such as Owens to use the vehicle between work
and home and to keep the vehicle at the employee’s home during non-work periods.
The directive stated that the “Company vehicle can be used to make minor stops
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between the shop and home (e.g. pick up bread, milk, etc. from store),” that the
“Company vehicle can not be used for after hours functions without approval from
Supervision,” and that, otherwise, the vehicle can not be used “as a personal vehicle.”
As previously mentioned, Maryland is a compulsory motor vehicle insurance
state.  Since the enactment of Ch. 73 of the Acts of 1972, effective January 1, 1973,
“the owner of a motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in Maryland must
maintain a motor vehicle insurance policy on the vehicle, or self-insurance approved
by the M.V.A. [Motor Vehicle Administration].”  Van Horn v. Atlantic Mutual, 334
Md. 669, 680-681, 641 A.2d 195, 200  (1994).  
On January 14, 1998, BGE submitted to the M.V.A. a self-insurance application
for its vehicles, setting forth the various coverages and the amounts of each coverage.
The amounts were all the statutory minimums.  The application contained other
information such as the BGE official to contact with regard to the application, the BGE
official in charge of adjusting claims, whether a reserve fund is maintained, and
whether there were currently unsatisfied tort judgments.  BGE also submitted a signed
“Guarantee,” guaranteeing “the payment of any valid claims arising from a motor
vehicle accident as if a policy of vehicle liability insurance were in effect . . . .”
Neither the application nor the Guarantee contained any exclusions, restrictions,
definitions, or limitations other than the monetary limitations for the coverages.
Specifically, the application and guarantee did not contain language found in some so-
called “omnibus clauses” in many motor vehicle insurance policies which limit
-3-
1
National Grange Mutual Ins. Co. v. Pinkney, 284 Md. 694, 696, 399 A.2d 877, 877 (1979).
While we have quoted the “permissive user clause” from the insurance policy in the Pinkney case,
we point out that permissive user clauses in other insurance policies often contain different wording.
For example, the permissive user clause in the motor vehicle insurance policy involved in Fisher v.
USF & G Co., 86 Md. App. 322, 325, 586 A.2d 783, 784 (1991), did not contain the “scope of such
permission” language.  It simply defined, as an insured, “[a]nyone else while using with your
permission a covered ‘auto’ you own, hire or borrow . . . .”
coverage for a person, other than the named insured, to situations where such person
is “‘using . . . [the vehicle] with the permission of the named insured, provided his
actual operation [was] within the scope of such permission.’” 1
The MVA issued to BGE a “Certificate of Self-Insurance,” granting to BGE
“approval as a self-insurer in the State of Maryland . . . .”  The Certificate was effective
on February 1, 1998, and expired on February 1, 1999.
B.
On July 16, 1998, Michael Brian Owens ended his work day as a BGE employee
at about 5:00 p.m. when he completed a service call at a country club in Howard
County located near the intersection of interstate route 70 and state route 97.  Owens
began driving the BGE van in the direction of his home in Carroll County.  He planned,
upon arrival at his home, to tell his wife that he was leaving her.
According to his deposition testim ony, Owens became “scared” about the
contemplated confrontation with his wife, and he stopped to visit a female “friend” who
had an apartment on the route to Owens’s home.  Owens testified that he consumed “a
bunch of beers,” about “six or seven,” at his friend’s apartment.  He then resumed the
journey to his home.  While driving north on state route 97 in Carroll County, Owens
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2
For convenience, Stacy Smith Maczis, Aric Maczis, and Gail R. Smith will hereafter sometimes
be referred to as the “tort claimants.”
allegedly lost control of the van, negligently crossed the center line into the southbound
lane, and collided with a vehicle operated by Stacy Smith Maczis and owned by Gail R.
Smith.  Aric Maczis was a passenger in the vehicle operated by Stacy Smith Maczis.
This vehicle was insured, including uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, by
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Com pany.
Stacy Smith Maczis, Aric Maczis, and Gail R. Smith filed in the Circuit Court
for Carroll County a five-count action against Michael Brian Owens, BGE, and
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Com pany.  Counts one and two were tort actions, by
Stacy and Aric Maczis, against Owens and BGE, to recover for personal injuries
suffered in the accident.  Count three was a tort action, by Gail Smith, against Owens
and BGE, to recover for the damages to Smith’s motor vehicle.  Counts four and five
were contract actions, by Stacy and Aric Maczis, against Nationwide, to recover under
the uninsured/underinsured coverage in the Nationwide insurance policy.  The
complaint alleged that the accident was caused by Owens’s negligent driving and that
Owens was operating the van in the scope of his employment for BGE.2
BGE filed, also in the Circuit Court for Carroll County, the present declaratory
judgment action against its employee Owens and the tort claimants.  Subsequently,
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company was allowed to intervene as an additional
defendant.  BGE’s complaint alleged:
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“At the time of the collision, Michael Brian Owens was
violating the policies and procedures of BGE Home Products &
Services, Inc. because he was operating the service van on a
personal errand and while under the influence of alcohol.”
BGE asked for the following declaration:
“BGE Home Products & Services, Inc. is not obligated to
provide either indemnity or defense to Michael Brian Owens with
regard to the subject collision because, at the time of the collision,
Michael Brian Owens was not operating the subject service van
within the scope of permission.”
After the taking of depositions and the filing of affidavits, the tort claimants
filed a motion for a summary judgment declaring that, at the time of the accident, the
employee Owens was operating the service van within the scope of BGE’s permission
and within the scope of his employment.  The tort claimants relied on deposition
testimony that numerous drivers of BGE’s vehicles in Owens’s division consumed
alcohol on a regular basis when driving the vehicles, that BGE’s “management or
supervisory” personnel “knew about the use of alcohol and driving these vehicles on
a regular basis,” and that BGE acquiesced in the practice.  After a hearing, the Circuit
Court denied the tort claimants’ motion for summary judgment, holding that there was
a “genuine dispute of material” facts concerning the matter and that, if the scope of
permission question needed to be resolved, it “must be resolved by the factfinder.”
Subsequently, Nationwide filed a motion for a summary judgment “declaring that
the Plaintiff, BGE, is required to provide a defense and indemnity to the extent of the
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limits of its [self-]insurance . . . .”  Nationwide chiefly relied on the absence of any
permissive user clause in BGE’s self-insurance documents.  Nationwide argued that an
exclusion for driving beyond the scope of permission “cannot be implied or inferred.”
After the filing of legal memoranda, another hearing, and some procedural skirmishes,
the Circuit Court filed an opinion holding that Nationwide’s motion for summary
judgment should be granted.  The Court held that the absence in the self-insurance
documents, of alcohol use or personal use exclusions, and the absence of a permissive
user clause, precluded BGE from disclaiming coverage on the ground that Owens was
not driving within the scope of permission.  On June 18, 2002, the Circuit Court filed
a declaratory judgment stating, inter alia, as follows:
“Under the self-insurance guarantee, BGE Home Products &
Services, Inc. is obligated to defend Owens in the underlying
action;
“Under the self-insurance guarantee, BGE Home Products &
Services, Inc. is obligated to indemnify Owens in the underlying
action to the extent of any and all existing limits of coverage
including, but not limited to, the amounts available under the BGE
Home Products & Services, Inc.’s certificate of self-insurance,
pursuant to Paragraph 6 . . . .”
BGE appealed to the Court of Special Appeals.  Prior to argument in that
intermediate appellate court, this Court issued a writ of certiorari.  BGE Home v.
Owens, 372 Md. 763, 816 A.2d 111 (2003).
-7-
II.
BGE’s arguments are as follows.  BGE contends that, even if it has a duty to
indemn ify Owens up to the amounts of the self-insurance coverages, it has no duty to
defend Owens.  BGE asserts that the duty to defend an insured is entirely contractual,
and that there is no duty to defend provision in any of its self-insurance documents.
Absent such a provision, according to BGE, it has no duty to defend.  
BGE further argues that it has no duty to defend Owens or indemnify him
because, at the time of the accident, his driving the vehicle was not within the scope of
his permissive use.  BGE asserts that, despite the absence of a permissive user clause
in the self-insurance documents, it “has a right to deny coverage for . . . a person who
exceeded the scope of permission” (BGE’s reply brief at 4).  BGE’s theory concerning
the statutory self-insurance alternative is as follows (id. at 5-6, emphasis added):
“[T]he General Assemb ly did not intend the guarantee of self-
insurance or the certificate of self-insurance to set forth the terms
of the self-insurance (other than the limits).  The General Assemb ly
intended that a self-insurer’s obligation to indemnify mirror an
insurer’s indemnity obligation, and that the self-insurer’s
obligation be governed by the terms of a motor vehicle policy that
it could have purchased.”
In other words, BGE contends that the General Assembly, in authorizing approved self-
insurance, intended that the self-insurance be as restrictive as the most restrictive motor
vehicle insurance policy which the self-insurer could have purchased from an insurance
company, even though the restrictions, exclusions, etc., were not mentioned in the self-
-8-
insurance application or other self-insurance documents.  BGE cites no statutory
language, legislative history, or Maryland case law supporting its theory.
The defendants-appellees (i.e., the tort claimants, Owens, and Nationwide) argue
that under Maryland case law, as well as the public policy reflected in Maryland’s
compulsory motor vehicle insurance statutes, a self-insurer has the same duty to defend
that an insurance company under a typical motor vehicle insurance policy would have.
The defendants further argue that the absence of a permissive user clause or of any
exclusions in BGE’s self-insurance documents preclude the denial of coverage on the
ground that the service van was allegedly not operated within the scope of permission
when the accident occurred.
Alternatively, the defendants argue that, even if a permissive user clause is by
implication deemed to be part of the self-insurance, there is a “potentiality” of coverage
and thus a duty of the self-insurer to defend the underlying tort claims.  The defendants
suggest that, if a permissive user clause is found by implication, any scope of
permission issue is interrelated with the scope of employment issue involved in the
underlying tort actions.  Therefore, according to the defendants, it would be
inappropriate to resolve a scope of permission issue in a declaratory judgment action
in advance of a resolution of the tort claims.  See, e.g., Litz v. State Farm, 346 Md. 217,
233-235, 695 A.2d 566, 573-575 (1997); Harford Mutual v. Woodfin, 344 Md. 399,
412-413, 687 A.2d 652, 658 (1997); Aetna v. Cochran, 337 Md. 98, 102-104, 651 A.2d
859, 861-862 (1995); Washington Transit v. Queen, 324 Md. 326, 333 n.6, 597 A.2d
-9-
423, 426 n.6 (1991); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Atwood, 319 Md. 247, 252-253, 256-257, 572
A.2d 154, 156, 158-159 (1990); Brohawn v. Transamerica Ins. Co., 276 Md. 396, 405-
407, 347 A.2d 842, 848-850 (1975). 
Finally, the defendants contend that, if the scope of permission issue is reached,
the evidence before the Circuit Court shows that Owens’s use of the service van at the
time of the accident was permissive.  They point out that BGE’s directive permitted an
employee driving a BGE vehicle to make minor stops en route to the employee’s home
and that, when the accident occurred, Owens had resumed the trip to his home.  The
defendants also submit that a scope of permission clause in a liability insurance policy
or self-insurance documents, which excludes from coverage any motor vehicle accident
where the tort defendant had been drinking alcoholic beverages, would violate
Maryland’s compulsory motor vehicle insurance laws.  It would render uninsured a
large class of persons involved in motor vehicle accidents.  See Jennings v. Government
Employees Ins., 302 Md. 352, 360, 488 A.2d 166, 170 (1985) (“The exclusion of a large
category of claimants, suffering bodily injury arising from accidents, is not consistent
with this [compulsory insurance statutory] language”).  
We shall hold that the Circuit Court correctly declared that BGE had a duty to
defend.  We shall further hold that the court below correctly decided that the absence
of a permissive user clause in the self-insurance documents precluded BGE from
disclaiming indemnity coverage on the ground that Owens was not driving the vehicle
within the scope of permission.  Consequently, we do not reach any of the alternative
-10-
argumen ts made by the defendants.
III.
An insurer’s duty to defend, while contractual, is nevertheless a fundamental
feature of a basic liability insurance policy.  This Court in Brohawn v. Transamerica
Ins. Co., supra, 276 Md. at 409-410, 347 A.2d at 851, explained:
“The promise to defend the insured, as well as the promise to
indemnify, is the consideration received by the insured for payment
of the policy premiums. Although the type of policy here
considered is most often referred to as liability insurance, it is
‘litigation insurance’ as well, protecting the insured from the
expense of defending suits brought against him.”
See, e.g., Jones v. Hyatt, 356 Md. 639, 649, 741 A.2d 1099, 1104 (1999) (The “duty to
defend an insured . . . runs throughout the course of the underlying tort litigation
against the insured”); Vigilant v. Luppino, 352 Md. 481, 489, 723 A.2d 14, 18 (1999)
(“[A]s the Court of Special Appeals held, the duty to defend, by its very nature, is a
continuing one that extends throughout the tort suit by the third party against the
insured”); Litz v. State Farm, supra, 346 Md. at 225, 695 A.2d at 569-570 (“The duty
to defend is broader than the duty to indemnify. * * *  The duty to defend exists ‘even
though “the claim asserted against the insured cannot possibly succeed because either
in law or in fact there is no basis for a plaintiff’s judgment.”’  * * * This Court has also
held that an insurer has a duty to defend when there exists a ‘potentiality that the claim
could be covered by the policy.’ * * * [T]he mere possibility that the insurer will have
to indemnify triggers the duty to defend” (citations omitted, emphasis in original);
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Sullins v. Allstate Ins. Co., 340 Md. 503, 509, 667 A.2d 617, 619-620 (1995) (“[A]n
insurer has a duty to defend its insured if there is a potentiality that the claim may be
covered by the policy”); Chantel Associates v. Mt. Vernon, 338 Md. 131, 141, 656 A.2d
779, 784 (1995) (“[A]n insurance company has a duty to defend its insured for all
claims which are potentially covered under an insurance policy”); Aetna v. Cochran,
supra, 337 Md. 98, 651 A.2d 859.
We have pointed out that, in the Maryland compulsory motor vehicle insurance
law, “the General Assemb ly . . . recogniz[ed] approved self-insurance as the equivalent
of an insurance policy,” West American v. Popa, 352 Md. 455, 475, 723 A.2d 1, 11
(1998).
The principal case in this Court dealing with approved self-insurance under the
compulsory motor vehicle insurance law is Hines v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., 305 Md.
369, 504 A.2d 632 (1986).  Hines involved two required coverages (personal injury
protection and uninsured motorist coverage) under a motor vehicle self-insurance
application and certificate.  In describing the approved self-insurance alternative, Judge
Cole for the Court stated (305 Md. at 375, 504 A.2d at 635):
“[W]e see no reason to distinguish a certificate of self-insurance
from a motor vehicle liability insurance policy.  Indeed, by making
the minimum amounts of required coverage applicable to motor
vehicle liability policies as well as to all other forms of security,
we think the legislature demonstrated a clear intent to treat all
forms of insurance equally.”
A holding that a self-insurer like BGE has no duty to defend would clearly not
-12-
be treating basic motor vehicle liability self-insurance and basic motor vehicle liability
insurance policies “equally.”  Since the duty to defend is such an important and integral
part of all basic liability policies, it is highly unlikely that the General Assemb ly
intended that motor vehicle self-insureds have no duty to defend.  The Circuit Court
correctly held that BGE had a duty to defend under its approved self-insurance.
IV.
A “permissive user clause” which excludes coverage when a motor vehicle is not
operated within “the scope of permission” is quite different from a “duty to defend”
provision.  Whereas the duty to defend is an integral part of all basic liability insurance
policies, an exclusion for operating a motor vehicle outside of the scope of permission
is not an integral part of all motor vehicle insurance policies.
As was pointed out by this Court in National Grange Mutual Ins. Co. v. Pinkney,
284 Md. 694, 704-706, 399 A.2d 877, 882-883 (1979), there is no requirement for
permissive user language in “an omnibus clause to appear in any motor vehicle liability
insurance policy,” that “all omnibus clauses do not contain the same language,” and
that “they must be interpreted pursuant to their terms on a contract by contract or case
by case basis, and not by sweeping language saying that . . . we shall interpret . . .
[them] alike.”  As earlier noted, supra n.1, some motor vehicle insurance policies
which have permissive user clauses do not contain the “scope of permission” language.
If we were to construct a permissive user clause for BGE’s February 1998 self-
insurance application, what type of clause should we draft?  If we were to construct a
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clause excluding persons driving without permission, but not excluding permissive
drivers who may exceed the scope of permission, such a clause would not help BGE’s
argument in this case.  Nevertheless, clauses of this type are frequently found in motor
vehicle insurance policies.
In Hines v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., supra, 305 Md. at 375-376, 504 A.2d at
635, we refused to find by implication coverages in a self-insurance application which
were not set forth in the self-insurance documen ts.  We pointed out that, if such
coverages were to exist, the self-insurer would have to set them forth in the self-
insurance application.  Similarly, we decline to find by implication exclusions,
restrictions, or limitations which the self-insurer failed to put in the self-insurance
application.
In fact, even when exclusions from or restrictions on required coverages are
expressly set forth in a motor vehicle insurance policy, Maryland law generally deems
most of these exclusions or restrictions void if they were not specifically authorized by
the Legislature.  See, e.g., Lewis v. Allstate, supra, 368 Md. at 48, 792 A.2d at 274 (“In
light of the comprehensive nature of the statutory provisions regulating motor vehicle
insurance, and the various limitations, conditions, exceptions and exclusions expressly
authorized by the Legislature, this Court has consistently ‘held invalid insurance policy
limitations, exclusions and exceptions to the statutorily required coverages which were
not expressly authorized by the Legislature,’” quoting Van Horn v. Atlantic Mutual,
supra, 334 Md. at 686, 641 A.2d at 203); Dutta v. State Farm, 363 Md. 540, 552, 769
-14-
A.2d 948, 955 (2001) (“‘exclusions from statutorily mandated insurance coverage not
expressly authorized by the Legislature generally will not be recognized,’” quoting
West American v. Popa, supra, 352 Md. at 475, 723 A.2d at 10); Enterprise v. Allstate,
341 Md. 541, 547, 671 A.2d 509, 512 (1996) (“Where the Legislature has mandated
insurance coverage, this Court will not create exclusions that are not specifically set
out in the statute”); Lee v. Wheeler, 310 Md. 233, 239, 528 A.2d 912, 915 (1987)
(“[W]e will not imply exclusions nor recognize exclusions beyond those expressly
enumerated by the legislature”).  It would be an extreme anomaly to hold that express
exclusions in a motor vehicle insurance policy, not specifically authorized by the
Legislature, are generally invalid, but that a purported exclusion from self-insurance
coverage, neither set forth in the self-insurance documents nor specifically authorized
by the Legislature, is nevertheless recognized and valid.
We also reject BGE’s theory that the General Assemb ly intended that a self-
insurer’s obligation be governed by the most restrictive motor vehicle insurance policy
which the self-insurer could have purchased, even though the restrictions are not
mentioned in the self-insurance documents.  As earlier mentioned, BGE cites no
statutory language, legislative history, or Maryland case law in support of this theory.
Moreover, the theory is not in accord with our cases.  As pointed out in Part III of this
opinion, we have stated that “the General Assemb ly . . . recogniz[ed] approved self-
insurance as the equivalent of an insurance policy,” West American v. Popa, supra, 352
Md. at 475, 723 A.2d at 11, and that the General Assemb ly “demonstrated a clear intent
-15-
to treat all forms of insurance equally,” Hines v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., supra, 305
Md. at 375, 504 A.2d at 635.  Maryland law clearly does not recognize exclusions,
restrictions, or limitations in insurance policies which are not set forth in the policies.
In fact, as pointed out above, even many of those expressly set forth are not given
effect.  Likewise, we should not recognize exclusions, restrictions, or limitations which
are not mentioned in the self-insurance documents.
Where a particular provision is contained in virtually all Maryland motor vehicle
insurance policies, it is not unreasonable to find by implication that the provision was
intended to be part of self-insurance.  This would be treating “all forms of insurance
equally,” Hines, supra, 305 Md. at 375, 504 A.2d at 635.  But, where some insurance
policies contain a “scope of permission” clause and some policies do not, and where
the wording of such clauses varies to a considerab le extent, it would not be reasonable
for a court, retroactively, to draft a particular “scope of permission clause” for self-
insurance documents that have omitted this provision.  If a self-insurer desires a
particular exclusion or restriction, the self-insurer should put it in its application.  The
exclusion or restriction will then have the same status as an exclusion or restriction in
a motor vehicle insurance policy.
JUDGMENT 
OF 
THE 
CIRCU IT
COURT FOR CARROLL COUNTY
AFFIRMED.  APPELLANTS TO PAY
COSTS.