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Biker Wins In Court Of Appeals

Posted on Sep 02, 2009

Posted 11/20/2008

West Bend Mutual Insurance Company refused to pay Laura Young underinsured motorist benefits when she was in a motorcycle accident on September 24, 2005. The Hartford, Wisconsin woman was a passenger on a motorcycle owned and driven by her boyfriend but the title was in her name.

The defendant auto driver was uninsured so she made an uninsured claim against her boyfriend’s insurance company. Attorney Abraham was successful in recovering the policy limits of $100,000. Due to the seriousness of Ms. Young’s injuries, she sought further compensation from her automobile insurance policy. That’s where the trouble started. Her company, West Bend Mutual, explained that she had a “drive other car” exclusion in her policy, which meant she could not claim underinsured coverage for injuries she sustained while occupying a vehicle she owned which was not insured for such coverage.

Attorney Abraham argued that she was not the owner of the motorcycle, simply the titleholder. In fact, she did not have a motorcycle license and had no intention of driving the motorcycle. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge John R. Storck ruled in favor of West Bend and dismissed the claim agreeing with the exclusionary language in the policy.

Attorneys Jason Abraham and Rebecca Lizdas took the case to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court’s decision. The Court of Appeals agreed that the title of a vehicle could be held by someone who is not the owner and ordered West Bend to provide coverage.