Opinion ID: 1918318
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: interpretation of exclusionary clause

Text: ¶ 11. Lewis argues that the trial court erred by finding that the intentional acts exclusion [1] was applicable. Of course, Allstate argues that the intentional acts exclusion is applicable. This Court has not yet determined whether an exclusionary clause for bodily injury or property damage resulting from an act intended or expected to cause bodily injury or property damage should apply when the bodily injury results from property damage. Accordingly, we will resolve this appeal pursuant to the Mississippi cases that exist. To the extent that they are useful in the process of rendering a decision, we will look to cases from other jurisdictions. ¶ 12. The interpretation of insurance policy language is a question of law. Johnson v. Preferred Risk Auto. Ins. Co., 659 So.2d 866, 871 (Miss.1995). Generally, under Mississippi law, when the words of an insurance policy are plain and unambiguous, the court will afford them their plain, ordinary meaning and will apply them as written. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co. v. Prince, 375 So.2d 417, 418 (Miss.1979). Under Mississippi law, ambiguous and unclear policy language must be resolved in favor of the insured. Harrison v. Allstate Ins. Co., 662 So.2d 1092, 1094 (Miss.1995). Further, provisions that limit or exclude coverage are to be construed liberally in favor of the insured and most strongly against the insurer. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co. v. Garriga, 636 So.2d 658, 662 (Miss.1994). In Mississippi, [an] act is intentional if the actor desires to cause the consequences of his act, or believes that the consequences are substantially certain to result from it. Coleman v. Sanford, 521 So.2d 876, 878 (Miss.1988). ¶ 13. Lewis argues that the policy in this case should be read to exclude coverage for bodily injury resulting from an act or omission intended or expected to cause bodily injury and to exclude coverage for property damage resulting from an act or omission intended or expected to cause property damage. However, according to Lewis, the exclusionary provision does not apply to a claim for bodily injury that results from an act intended or expected to cause only property damage. We disagree with Lewis's construction. Parsing the language as Lewis suggests does not follow from a normal reading of the policy. Further, it does not require the policy to be construed broadly. The intent of the policy language is not ambiguous. ¶ 14. This Court has previously addressed whether an intentional acts exclusion precluded coverage when an insured shot an individual and claimed that the shooting was not intentional. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Allard, 611 So.2d 966 (Miss. 1992). In Allard, the personal injury suit was resolved prior to the suit for declaratory judgment. Id. at 967. The jury found that Allard, the insured, did not intend to shoot Rowland, the victim. The homeowner's policy covering Allard contained an exclusion to liability coverage stating that coverage does not apply to bodily injury or property damage which is expected or intended by the insured. Id. at 968. The Court noted that under Mississippi law, `[an] act is intentional if the actor desires to cause the consequences of his act, or believes that the consequences are substantially certain to result from it.' Id. (quoting Coleman, 521 So.2d at 878). Without determining whether the policy language was ambiguous, the Court relied on the jury's conclusion that, based on the evidence, Allard did not intend to shoot or hit Rowland; rather, Allard only intended to stop Rowland by shooting in front of him. Id. at 968-69. ¶ 15. As to whether the particular exclusionary provision in question applies to exclude coverage under the scenario in question, i.e. where the insured intended to cause property damage only, but his conduct ultimately resulted in bodily injury, this Court has not been presented with such an issue. Accordingly, we turn to other jurisdictions for comparable treatment of this particular issue. ¶ 16. Our research reveals only one case with facts like those under review here. Michigan Millers Ins. Co. v. Anspach, 109 Ohio App.3d 618, 672 N.E.2d 1042, 1044 (Ohio Ct.App.1996). In Anspach, the children of the insured planned to burglarize the home of one Judith Simpson and to conceal the burglary by setting fire to the house. Id. at 1043. The juveniles believed that the house would be unoccupied that night. Id. at 1044. Five of the juveniles, including the children of the insured, agreed to act as lookouts and knew of the plan to set the house on fire. Id. Two other juveniles broke into the house and stole goods. One of these juveniles poured gasoline around the floor of the kitchen, but the other juvenile noticed that Simpson was asleep in the living room of the house. The former juvenile, after being asked about the people in the house, lit the fire anyway. Id. Simpson was injured in the fire; her daughter Amanda, who was also asleep in the house at the time, died. Id. ¶ 17. The trial court declared that the insurer had no obligation to defend or indemnify Anspach for the intentional conduct of his children. The Ohio Court of Appeals reversed. The main feature of the court's analysis was that it relied on principles of insurance law instead of principles of criminal law. Id. at 1046. The policy in question stated Medical Payments to Others do not apply to bodily injury or property damage: a. which is expected or intended by the insured. Id. ¶ 18. The Anspach court noted a previous holding of the Ohio Supreme Court that in order to avoid coverage on the basis of an exclusion for expected or intentional injuries, the insurer must demonstrate that the injury itself was expected or intended. Id. at 1047 (quoting Physicians Ins. Co. v. Swanson, 58 Ohio St.3d 189, 569 N.E.2d 906, 910-11 (1991)). The court of appeals concluded that based on the record, the juveniles seeking coverage did not expect the house to be occupied when they started the burglary plan and did not know that the house was occupied until after the fire had been started. Id. at 1048. The court determined that for the exclusionary clause to apply, the insurer would have to show that bodily injury was reasonably expected based on the actual conduct of the insured (through his sons), noting that the analysis examines the actual conduct of the insured person rather than the criminal convictions of the insured. Id. at 1048-49. ¶ 19. Most significantly, however, the court concluded that [i]n determining insurance applicability as this exclusion is written, we cannot transfer the intent of the insured person to injure property to the intent to cause bodily injury. Id. at 1049 (emphasis added). The court, after examining the conduct of the insureds and their actual intentions, found that the policy exclusion precluding coverage for intentional acts was inapplicable. Id. ¶ 20. The court rejected the claim that the criminal acts of the insureds was inseparable from the injuries and resulting death, noting that the criminal act of the insureds was confined to acting as lookouts and that the exclusion in question precludes coverage when the insured's conduct results in bodily injury that may have been expected from the conduct or intended. Since there was no evidence that the insureds intended or expected the injuries and subsequent death, the exclusion did not apply. ¶ 21. In Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Co. v. Swindal, 622 So.2d 467, 468 (Fla.1993), the Supreme Court of Florida was faced with a question very similar to the one facing this Court now: does a homeowners insurance policy's intentional injury exclusion clause exclude coverage for bodily injuries sustained where the insured committed an intentional act intending to cause fear, but bodily injuries may have been caused accidentally and were not expected or intended by the insured to result? The Swindal case involved an allegedly accidental shooting, and Prudential argued that coverage was excluded. However, the Supreme Court of Florida found that the policy, which excluded coverage for bodily injury ... which is `expected or intended by the insured,' did not specifically exclude coverage for injuries caused by negligent or otherwise unintentional acts because such injuries would not be expected or intended by the insured. Id. at 472. Accordingly, the court concluded coverage would be available if the fact finder determined that the insured did not intentionally fire the gun. Id. at 473. ¶ 22. The cases referred to above must be distinguished by the language used in the exclusionary clauses of the policies therein. None of them is phrased quite like the exclusion under review. The following is a clearer reading of what the exclusionary clause under review actually provides: coverage for personal liability does not extend to the insured's acts that caused bodily injury or property damage, if the insured expected or intended them to cause bodily injury or property damage. Accordingly, Allstate argues that because Thompson intended to cause property damage, coverage should not extend to bodily injury resulting from that property damage. The threshold question, therefore, is whether, pursuant to this policy, Thompson's intent to cause the property damage is sufficient to trigger the exclusion, despite Thompson's lack of intent to cause bodily injury. Under a strict reading of the policy, we answer in the affirmative. ¶ 23. The Ohio Court of Appeals in Anspach, supra, rejected the notion of transferring intent in this manner. However, the policy in that case was actually ambiguous as applied to the facts; it only provided that payments to others did not apply to bodily injury or property damage which was expected or intended. Such language would clearly resolve a case in which expected or intended property damage led to property damage, or expected or intended bodily injury led to bodily injury. However, it is fruitless to refer to such language in a hybrid case, such as this one. Accordingly, and correctly, the Ohio Court of Appeals construed the language liberally in favor of the insured. Similarly, the cases cited by the appellant feature the use of such language. See Anspach, supra ; Allard, supra . ¶ 24. To be certain, if ambiguity existed in a policy, the rationale employed by the Florida Supreme Court in Swindal would be applicable. Tort law principles should not dictate judicial construction of insurance policies, which are contracts of adhesion. Insurance contracts are construed in accordance with the plain language of the policies as bargained for by the parties, with any ambiguities interpreted liberally in favor of the insured. Accordingly, intentional act exclusions should be limited to the express terms of the policies and should not exclude coverage for injuries more broadly deemed under tort law principles to be consequences flowing from the insured's intentional acts. ¶ 25. Nonetheless, no such ambiguity exists in the policy under review. As such, this case cannot be aligned with cases that conclude that some type of bodily injury is so substantially certain to occur during the commission of crimes like armed robbery that the law will infer an intent to injure on behalf of the insured actor without regard to his claimed intent, or those cases which determine that intent to harm may be presumed in cases of sexual abuse without regard to the claimed intent (or lack thereof) of the insured actor. Those cases merely mean that an intent to injure is inherent in acts like armed robbery, assault, or sexual abuse. [2] Due to the clarity of the policy under review, this Court does not pass upon whether the intent to cause property damage can be transferred to the intent to cause bodily injury. Similarly, we make no judgment regarding the public policy of providing insurance coverage in cases where intentional conduct causes unintended results. ¶ 26. We take this opportunity to state that if an insurance company can conduct a declaratory action regarding coverage prior to resolution of an underlying wrongful death trial, then the insureds and third party beneficiaries should be able to raise the coverage question in the underlying lawsuit as well. Pursuant to our rules of civil procedure, a hearing to determine coverage may be conducted if necessary. See Miss. R. Civ. P. 57 cmt. (recognizing that a plaintiff may ask for a declaratory judgment either as his sole relief or in addition or auxiliary to other relief). Such reviews of insurance contracts do not involve the jury and are often cursory. Accordingly, if a question of insurance coverage exists, a party should be able to bring the insurer into a lawsuit and have the coverage question resolved by the judge. It should be noted that this does not mean that a party can mention insurance before a jury, as that rule still holds in this state. West Cash & Carry Bldg. Materials of McComb, Inc. v. Palumbo, 371 So.2d 873, 876 (Miss. 1979). This procedure simply promotes judicial economy by allowing coverage questions to be resolved at the same time as an underlying lawsuit; it does not allow the question to go to the jury except by previous rules in our decisions. See, e.g., Chilcutt v. Keating, 220 Miss. 545, 551, 71 So.2d 472, 474 (1954)(declining to order mistrial when both plaintiff and defendant conceded factually the protections of insurance) Mississippi Ice & Util. Co. v. Pearce, 161 Miss. 252, 134 So. 164, 167 (1931)(declining to order mistrial when defense counsel has elicited a response from a witness concerning insurance). Therefore, we find that the trial court did not err in interpreting the intentional acts exclusion of the policy.