Court Opinion

ID: 9695330
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:15:43.661759+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:10.849247
License: Public Domain

DISSENT
ANDERSON, PAUL H., J.
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. I conclude that the Allstate policy is ambiguous as to whether the term “insured” refers to listed drivers as well as named insureds. I also conclude that the Carlsons reasonably expected that their son Aaron would receive the same coverage as his parents in the event of an accident. Because our precedent requires that we construe ambiguous insurance policy language in accordance with the reasonable expectations of the insured, I would conclude that Aaron is entitled to uninsured motorist coverage for his injuries. Therefore, I would reverse both the court of appeals and district court.
As the majority indicates, the crux of the interpretive question before us rests on who is “the policyholder named on the Policy Declarations.” Despite the fact that the word “policyholder” appears nowhere on the declarations page, the majority concludes that this language unambiguously refers to the “named insureds” on the declarations page. I do not agree with this conclusion. On the contrary, I am persuaded that reasonable persons seeking the “policyholder named on the Policy Declarations” would naturally refer to the declarations page, whereupon they would find two different terms, “named insureds” and “drivers,” and no mention whatsoever of any “policyholder.” Understandably confounded as to who the “policyholder” is, the reasonable reader would be left considering the terms “named insured” and “driver.” Both terms are terms of art in an insurance contract, and neither bears any obvious relationship to the term “policyholder.” Therefore, in the mind of an ordinary person with no expertise in the law and insurance, the “policyholder” could plausibly include the “named insureds,” the “drivers,” or both. This scenario is the very definition of ambiguity — that is, susceptibility to two or more reasonable interpretations. See Medica, Inc. v. Atl. Mut. Ins. Co., 566 N.W.2d 74, 77 (Minn.1997).
Having parted ways with the majority on the question of the insurance policy’s ambiguity, a divergent analysis necessarily follows. “Ambiguous terms in an insurance policy are to be resolved against the insurer and in accordance with the reasonable expectations of the insured.” Progressive Specialty Ins. Co. v. Widness ex rel. Widness, 635 N.W.2d 516, 524 (Minn.2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). Because the policy is ambiguous, the Carl-sons are entitled to whatever coverage they reasonably expected.
I conclude that Robert Carlson’s expectation that his son Aaron would receive uninsured motorist coverage under these circumstances was reasonable. According to Robert’s deposition testimony, which we must credit for purposes of summary judgment, Robert bargained with independent insurance agent Michael Fay for coverage for Aaron and his brother Christopher that was the same as the coverage for Robert and his wife Gail. It appears that any difference in coverage between the named insureds and the drivers was neither explained to Robert nor reflected in a corresponding difference in premiums. There is no evidence that the Carlsons and Allstate bargained for the “gap” in coverage into which Allstate claims Aaron’s injuries *51have fallen. On the contrary, Fay, the insurance agent through whom Robert purchased the policy, testified that he did not even know such a gap existed. Allstate, a sophisticated insurance company, and not the Carlsons, who tried in good faith to secure comprehensive insurance coverage for Aaron and Christopher, should bear the burden of that oversight in light of the policy’s ambiguity. Because I conclude that the policy was ambiguous and that the Carlsons reasonably expected, in light of their reading of the policy and Robert’s conversations with Fay, that Aaron would be covered, I would reverse the court of appeals and district court and order that judgment be entered in favor of the Carlsons against Allstate.