Opinion ID: 1735720
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Other States' Interpretations of Arising Out of

Text: Most other jurisdictions interpret the phrase arising out of to encompass a meaning broader than mere proximate cause. As one court said: [T]he general consensus [is] that the phrase arising out of should be given a broad reading such as originating from or growing out of or flowing from or done in connection withthat is, it requires some causal connection to the injuries suffered, but does not require proximate cause in the legal sense. Fed. Ins. Co. v. Tri-State Ins. Co., 157 F.3d 800, 804 (10th Cir.1998) (citing cases and secondary sources). The general consensus referred to in Tri-State is supported by numerous cases from around the country. See Am. States Ins. Co. v. Bailey, 133 F.3d 363, 370 (5th Cir.1998) (The words [arising out of] are `understood to mean originating from, having its origin in, growing out of or flowing from.') (quoting Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc. v. Employers Mut. Liab. Ins. Co., 189 F.2d 374, 378 (5th Cir.1951)); Winnacunnet Coop. Sch. Dist. v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., 84 F.3d 32, 35 (1st Cir.1996) (applying New Hampshire law and stating that New Hampshire courts have consistently viewed `arising out of' as a `very broad, general and comprehensive term . . . meaning originating from or growing out of or flowing from.') (quoting Merrimack Sch. Dist. v. Nat'l Sch. Bus Serv., Inc., 140 N.H. 9, 661 A.2d 1197, 1199 (1995)); State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Erwin, 393 So.2d 996, 998 (Ala.1981) (The phrase `arising out of' has been broadly construed. . . . `Arising out of' . . . are words of much broader significance than `caused by.') (quoting Blue Bird Body Co. v. Ryder Truck Rental, Inc., 583 F.2d 717, 726 (5th Cir.1978)); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Smiley, 276 Ill.App.3d 971, 213 Ill.Dec. 698, 659 N.E.2d 1345, 1351 (1995) (finding arising out of to be unambiguous and interpreting the word `arise' [to] mean[ ] `[t]o spring up, originate, to come into being or notice' (Black's Law Dictionary 108 (6th ed.1990)), or `to come into being,' `to come about: come up: take place' (Webster's Third New International Dictionary 117 (1986))); United Servs. Auto. Ass'n v. Morgan, 23 Kan.App.2d 987, 939 P.2d 959, 964 (1997) (insurance policy containing the phrase arising out of imparts a more liberal concept of a causation than `proximate cause' in its traditional legal sense) (quoting Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Evans, 7 Kan.App.2d 60, 637 P.2d 491, 494 (1981)); Mass Transit Admin. v. CSX Transp., Inc., 349 Md. 299, 708 A.2d 298, 305 (1998) (The words `arising out of' must be afforded their common understanding, namely, to mean originating from, growing out of, flowing from, or the like.) (quoting N. Assur. Co. of Am. v. EDP Floors, Inc., 311 Md. 217, 533 A.2d 682, 688-89 (1987)); Meadowbrook, Inc. v. Tower Ins. Co., 559 N.W.2d 411, 419 (Minn.1997) ([T]his court has defined the words `arising out of' in an insurance policy to mean `causally connected with' and not `proximately caused by.') (quoting Faber v. Roelofs, 311 Minn. 428, 250 N.W.2d 817, 822 (1977)); Farmers Union Coop. Ins. Co. v. Allied Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 253 Neb. 177, 569 N.W.2d 436, 439 (1997) (We have defined the words `arising out of the use' as `very broad, general, and comprehensive, terms [that] are ordinarily understood to mean originating from, growing out of, or flowing from.') (quoting Dairyland Ins. Co. v. Esterling, 205 Neb. 750, 290 N.W.2d 209, 212 (1980)); Am. Motorists Ins. Co. v. L-C-A Sales Co., 155 N.J. 29, 713 A.2d 1007, 1010 (1998) (citing New Jersey cases that interpret arising out of broadly in both insuring and exclusionary clauses); Toll Bridge Auth. v. Aetna Ins. Co., 54 Wash.App. 400, 773 P.2d 906, 908 (1989) (The phrase `arising out of' is unambiguous and has a broader meaning than `caused by' or `resulted from.' It is ordinarily understood to mean `originating from', `having its origin in', `growing out of', or `flowing from'.) (citations omitted). Insurance treatises employ a similarly broad definition of arising out of. See 7 Lee R. Russ & Thomas F. Segalla, Couch on Insurance 3d § 101:54 (1997); see also 6B John Allen Appleman & Jean Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 4317, at 360-63 (rev. ed.1979) (stating that in an automobile insurance policy the words `arising out of'. . . are of broader significance than the words `caused by', and are ordinarily understood to mean originating from, incident to, or having connection with the use of the vehicle). [4] Therefore, the law in most other states is consistent with the broad interpretation of the phrase arising out of in Hagen and other Florida cases.