Court Opinion

ID: 9588592
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:36:02.747177+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:00:59.655694
License: Public Domain

STEPHENSON, J.,
dissenting.
Insurance policies are to be liberally construed in favor of an insured. Thus, clauses in a policy purporting to exclude coverage must be strictly construed against an insurer. Ayres v. Harleysville Mut. Cas. Co., 172 Va. 383, 389, 2 S.E.2d 303, 305 (1939). Any doubt about the meaning of policy language must be resolved against the insurance company. Id.
Nonetheless, the majority, by applying a narrow concept of insanity, gives the clause at issue a liberal reading. Under the majority’s view, exclusionary clauses will operate to exclude coverage *349for an insured adjudged criminally insane under M’Naghterfs right-wrong test.
Denial of insurance coverage for individuals lacking the mental capacity to act rationally is simply inconsistent with the purpose of exclusionary clauses. Excluding intentional injury from coverage promotes the policy that an individual who deliberately causes injury to another should not be exempt from the financial consequences of his intentional act. Exclusionary clauses also help deter wrongful conduct by denying coverage for acts within an insured’s control. However, the existence or nonexistence of insurance coverage will in no way influence or deter an individual whose insanity prevents him from conforming his behavior to acceptable standards.
When a mentally-ill insured is unable to control his conduct, I would hold that his irrational and impulsive act cannot be regarded as “intentional” within the context of an exclusionary clause. This view, recently adopted by a number of jurisdictions, is consistent with long-standing policy considerations in insurance law. See, e.g., Ruvolo v. American Cas. Co., 39 N.J. 490, 497-98, 189 A.2d 204, 208-09 (1963). See generally Annot., 33 A.L.R.4th 983.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.