Court Opinion

ID: 9561919
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:18:35.53847+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:53.471745
License: Public Domain

Felton, Chief Judge,
concurring specially. We are dealing here with an exception to a provision in the insurance policy which exception excludes coverage. The exception is ambiguous and for that reason is construed against the insurance company as well as the reason that the company wrote the policy. The words “furnished” and “regular” were used. It must be assumed that both were used for the purpose of expressing the intention of the draftsmen. If the vehicle was merely “furnished” for the regular use of the insured and he never used it more than once the insurance company obviously would escape a risk never reasonably intended. If the vehicle was not furnished for regular use but was used regularly by the insured, under the provision of exclusion, there would be coverage as to the regular use under the policy terms. The provision should be interpreted to mean that to exclude coverage there must have been the furnishing for regular use and also regular use.
(1) The vehicle (meaning any one in the pool and not one specific vehicle) was not furnished to the insured for regular use, assuming but not conceding that it was furnished for regular use to anybody. It was furnished to the insured’s army unit and not specifically to him and whether the insured operated the vehicle was due to uncertain and unpredictable circumstances, so if it could be said to have been furnished to him as a person, the purpose of such furnishing would not be regular under the meaning of the word “regular” in the present context, which is, according to the 1961 (2d) Edition of Webster’s New Unabridged Dictionary: “Formed, built, arranged, etc., according to some established rule, law, principle or type; . . . Steady or uniform in course, practice or occurrence; not subject to unexplained or irrational variation; returning or recurring at stated or fixed times or uniform intervals; as, a regular pulse, steadily pursued; usually or generally received, used, etc., orderly; methodical; . . . Constituted, selected, conducted, made, etc., in conformity with established or prescribed usages, rules, or discipline; ...” As the furnishing to the insured was not *454for “regular” operation, the use of the vehicle during the policy period was not regular. For a part of the time it might have been frequent but that is not what the policy states. • According to the definition of “regular” the use was not “regular” during the period.the insured used it. In the Marr case, supra, the vehicles were furnished for the individual officers. The court construed the word “regular” as meaning more than occasional. I have not seen such a definition. If the insurance company had meant “more than occasional” it could have said so.
Ordinarily I would not split hairs, as it were, as to the reason for affirming the judgment because the verdict rendered was authorized. However, under the circumstances I think that in order to avoid a misunderstanding of our ruling, or at least my view of it, we should hold that the verdict was demanded that there was coverage. Where a writing is ambiguous and no evidence throws light on the meaning, the construction is a question of law for the court. That is the situation in this case and since the contract under the undisputed facts (there being no significant dispute about them) shows coverage, the finding of coverage was demanded by the evidence. If there had been questions of the credibility of witnesses which might have resulted in a finding of facts which showed no coverage then, of course, there would have been a jury question. There was a situation similar to that just stated in California Ins. Co. v. Blumberg, 101 Ga. App. 587, supra, which made a jury question.
I concur in the judgment because as a matter of law the finding of coverage was demanded under the evidence.