O'CONNELL, J.
Defendant, Travelers Property Casualty Company of America (Travelers), appeals by leave granted an August 27, 2008, order of the Oakland Circuit Court denying its motion for summary disposition. For reasons slightly different from those articulated by the trial court, we affirm the denial of the motion for summary disposition and remand this case back to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. This appeal is being decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
On November 2, 2004, plaintiff, Luann M. Dancey, was involved in a single-vehicle accident after hitting a ladder lying in the roadway. In November 2007, plaintiff filed a complaint seeking uninsured motorist (UIM) benefits from defendant under a policy issued to Maryland Electric Company, Inc. (Maryland Electric). Defendant moved for summary disposition on two grounds: (1) plaintiff was not an "insured" as that term is defined by the policy for purposes of UIM coverage, and (2) there was no evidence that the accident in question was caused by the driver of an "uninsured motor vehicle." The trial court denied defendant's motion, ruling that the vehicle that plaintiff was driving at the time of the accident, a 2004 GMC Envoy, was covered by the policy and that there was at least a genuine issue of fact whether
On appeal, defendant argues that an "insured" for purposes of UIM coverage is limited to anyone occupying a vehicle owned by Maryland Electric. Because Maryland Electric did not own or lease the Envoy, plaintiff was not entitled to coverage. Defendant also argues that based upon caselaw and the lower court record, no evidence exists that this accident was caused by the driver of an "uninsured motor vehicle."
We agree with the trial court that there exists a question of fact regarding whether this accident was caused by the driver of an "uninsured motor vehicle." However, while we disagree with the trial court that plaintiff has "conclusively" established that plaintiff is a named insured, we conclude that there exists a question of fact whether plaintiff is a named insured as that term is defined in defendant's policy. Therefore, for slightly different reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court. We remand this case back to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Plaintiff is the former wife of David Dancey; the couple divorced in August 2007. David was employed by Maryland Electric, a company that was owned by his parents and a third person. Defendant had issued a commercial automobile policy to Maryland Electric covering the 2004 calendar year.
The policy at issue covers eight private passenger vehicles and 48 trucks, but they are not individually identified by year, make, or model. Rather, covered vehicles are identified by a symbol corresponding to the type of coverage available. Specifically, "[t]he symbols entered next to a coverage on the Declarations designate the only `autos' that are covered `autos.'" The policy also contains a UIM endorsement, which provides, in part:
Plaintiff had previously owned a GMC Yukon. In January 2004, David leased a 2004 GMC Envoy from the Pat Moran Oldsmobile dealership (the dealership) as a replacement vehicle for the Yukon. Plaintiff notified her insurance agent that the Yukon was being replaced with the Envoy. The lease that David signed with the dealership indicates that the Envoy was covered under defendant's policy. Plaintiff testified that Maryland Electric indirectly purchased vehicles for certain employees by giving them a monthly car allowance and that the employees, as well as their spouses, were covered under the company's insurance policy with defendant. She further testified that she was required to sign a written lease agreement with Maryland Electric under which the Envoy, which was titled in plaintiff's name, was leased to Maryland Electric, thereby bringing the car and herself under the umbrella of defendant's insurance policy. Plaintiff also produced a certificate of insurance that named both herself and Maryland Electric as insured parties under the policy issued by defendant. Plaintiff testified that "she was actually a named insured" because the certificate of insurance for the Envoy identified plaintiff as an insured.
On November 2, 2004, plaintiff was driving the Envoy when she was involved in an accident at the interchange of I-696 and I-75 in Royal Oak. She entered eastbound I-696 at or near I-75 and gradually moved toward the far left of the four lanes. In this area I-696 rises far above I-75, and noise mitigation and retaining walls line the roadway on either side of the interchange. It is not an area that pedestrians or other nonvehicular traffic can enter. Access to the overpass, in essence, is limited to motor vehicles.
When plaintiff was in the center left lane or the far left lane, she noticed a "huge steel construction ladder partially opened" angled across the entire lane. Plaintiff had not seen it earlier because her view was obstructed by another vehicle. Plaintiff "had a split second to make a decision do I try to run over or do I swerve." She opted to try to avoid the ladder and pulled sharply to the right, but was unable to avoid the ladder completely. Plaintiff lost control of the car, the "front left tire blew," and the car rolled over. The area where the accident occurred was not under construction and none of the evidence presented suggests how long the ladder had been in the road, how it came to be there, or who was responsible for leaving it there.
Plaintiff argues that because she is a named insured under defendant's policy and her vehicle is leased to Maryland Electric, both the vehicle and plaintiff are covered under the policy. Furthermore, she contends, because the ladder fell from another vehicle that could not be identified, this accident is covered under the UIM endorsement to the policy.
As we have previously stated, defendant moved for summary disposition on two grounds: (1) plaintiff was not an "insured" as that term is defined by the policy for purposes of UIM coverage,
We review the trial court's ruling on a motion for summary disposition de novo. Gillie v. Genesee Co. Treasurer, 277 Mich.App. 333, 344, 745 N.W.2d 137 (2007). The construction and interpretation of an insurance policy and whether the policy language is ambiguous are questions of law, which we also review de novo on appeal. Henderson v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 460 Mich. 348, 353, 596 N.W.2d 190 (1999).
"Summary disposition is appropriate under MCR 2.116(C)(10) if there is no genuine issue regarding any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." West v. Gen. Motors Corp., 469 Mich. 177, 183, 665 N.W.2d 468 (2003). When reviewing a motion under MCR 2.116(C)(10), we consider the pleadings, admissions, affidavits, and other relevant record evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party to determine whether any genuine issue of material fact exists to warrant a trial. Walsh v. Taylor, 263 Mich.App. 618, 621, 689 N.W.2d 506 (2004). "A genuine issue of material fact exists when the record, giving the benefit of reasonable doubt to the opposing party, leaves open an issue upon which reasonable minds might differ." West, 469 Mich. at 183, 665 N.W.2d 468.
"An insurance policy is much the same as any other contract. It is an agreement between the parties in which a court will determine what the agreement was and effectuate the intent of the parties." Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Churchman, 440 Mich. 560, 566, 489 N.W.2d 431 (1992). "The policy application, declarations page of [the] policy, and the policy itself construed together constitute the contract." Royal Prop. Group, LLC v. Prime Ins. Syndicate, Inc., 267 Mich.App. 708, 715, 706 N.W.2d 426 (2005). An insurance contract should be read as a whole, with meaning given to all terms. Id. A clear and unambiguous contractual provision is to be enforced as written. Coates v. Bastian Bros., Inc., 276 Mich.App. 498, 503, 741 N.W.2d 539 (2007). "Clear and unambiguous language may not be rewritten under the guise of interpretation," South Macomb Disposal Auth. v. American Ins. Co. (On Remand), 225 Mich.App. 635, 653, 572 N.W.2d 686 (1997), and "[c]ourts must be careful not to read an ambiguity into a policy where none exists," Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Harvey, 219 Mich.App. 466, 469, 556 N.W.2d 517 (1996). A contract is ambiguous when two provisions "irreconcilably conflict with each other," Klapp v. United Ins. Group Agency, Inc., 468 Mich. 459, 467, 663 N.W.2d 447 (2003), or "when [a term] is equally susceptible to more than a single meaning," Lansing Mayor v. Pub. Service Comm., 470 Mich. 154, 166, 680 N.W.2d 840 (2004) (emphasis in original). "However, if a contract, even an inartfully worded or clumsily arranged contract, fairly admits of but one interpretation, it may not be said to be ambiguous or fatally unclear." Mich. Twp. Participating Plan v. Pavolich, 232 Mich.App. 378, 382, 591 N.W.2d 325 (1998).
The UIM endorsement obligates defendant to pay those sums that an "insured" is entitled to recover from the owner or driver of an uninsured vehicle. Although
For purposes of UIM coverage, a covered "auto"
The term "you," as defined in the policy, refers to "the Named Insured shown in the Declarations." Thus, an "insured" for purposes of UIM coverage is a person who is occupying an auto owed by the named insured, i.e., Maryland Electric.
Defendant claims that because the Envoy occupied by plaintiff was owned by the dealership and leased to plaintiff's then-husband David, it was not owned by the named insured and was not covered by the UIM endorsement. Because plaintiff was not occupying a covered auto, she was not an insured for purposes of receiving UIM benefits.
Plaintiff did not specifically dispute defendant's reading of the relevant policy terms. Rather, she noted that the policy included an endorsement for leased vehicles, that there existed a leaseback agreement, a certificate of insurance naming her as a named insured, and a policy change request that added the Envoy to the policy and named her as an additional insured. Therefore, plaintiff claimed, she qualified as an insured for the purpose of entitlement to UIM benefits. The crux of plaintiff's argument was that despite what the policy said, "she was actually a named insured" on the policy because her insurance agent had added both her and the Envoy to the policy.
At oral argument on the motion for summary disposition, defendant asserted that there was caselaw indicating that the insurance certificate was not controlling and submitted copies of the relevant cases to the court. Plaintiff responded that defendant had already paid her benefits under the policy and if defendant paid benefits, she must be an insured. The trial court ruled, in pertinent part, as follows:
We conclude that the trial court erred by conclusively finding that the Envoy was a covered auto, thus making plaintiff an insured under the UIM endorsement. However, we also conclude that the trial court reached the right result with regard to its denial of summary disposition on this point, albeit for the wrong reasons. See Etefia v. Credit Technologies, Inc., 245 Mich.App. 466, 470, 628 N.W.2d 577 (2001). On the basis of the facts of this case as set forth in the lower court record, there remain questions of fact regarding whether plaintiff is a named insured and whether this policy provides UIM benefits for plaintiff.
UIM benefits are only available if plaintiff was injured in an accident with the driver of an "uninsured motor vehicle" and that driver's liability results from the ownership, maintenance, or use of the "uninsured motor vehicle." An "uninsured motor vehicle" is defined, in part, to include any land motor vehicle, i.e., "auto,"
Defendant claims that in order for the hit-and-run vehicle to "cause an object to hit" plaintiff's vehicle, there must be a physical nexus between the hit-and-run vehicle and the object. Defendant argues that because no one could affirmatively state that the ladder fell off another vehicle, only speculation would permit a jury to conclude that there was any nexus between the ladder and the hit-and-run vehicle, and speculation is insufficient to establish a genuine issue of fact. Plaintiff argues that there was no other logical explanation for how the ladder came to be in the roadway, given that the area was not under construction, was not open to pedestrian traffic, and was not beneath an overpass from which a ladder could have fallen. Further, the language used in defendant's policy differs from that involved in the various cases cited by defendant. The trial court ruled, in pertinent part, as follows:
In several cases, this Court has addressed issues regarding coverage of accidents in which an object was alleged to have come from an unidentified vehicle. In Kersten v. Detroit Auto. Inter-Ins. Exch., 82 Mich.App. 459, 267 N.W.2d 425 (1978),
Given that, the Court held that the plaintiff was not entitled to UIM coverage because even though the facts permitted an inference that the tire came from a passing vehicle, they
In Adams v. Zajac, 110 Mich.App. 522, 313 N.W.2d 347 (1981),
In Hill v. Citizens Ins. Co. of America, 157 Mich.App. 383, 403 N.W.2d 147 (1987),
The Berry Court held that the presence of scrap metal in the trailer "at a time and location that was temporally and spatially proximate to plaintiff's striking a piece of metal in the road" was sufficient to establish "a substantial physical nexus between the hit-and-run vehicle and the object struck by plaintiff. ..." Id. at 350, 556 N.W.2d 207. Further, given the conflict between Kersten and Adams regarding the necessity of "`a continuous and contemporaneously transmitted force from the hit-and-run vehicle'" to the insured vehicle, the Berry Court held that "the presence of a `continuous and contemporaneously transmitted force' is a significant, but not dispositive, factor to be considered in indirect contact cases in determining whether the requisite substantial physical nexus has been established." Id. at 350-351, 556 N.W.2d 207 (citation omitted). Although there was no such evidence in the Berry case, there was testimony providing the "convincing and objective evidence of a hit-and-run vehicle in the absence of a continuous and contemporaneously transmitted force." Id. at 351, 556 N.W.2d 207. The witness's testimony "establishe[d] a continuous sequence of events with a clearly definable beginning and ending, resulting in plaintiff's coming into contact with the piece of metal." Id.
The distinguishing feature between our case and cases like Berry, Hill, and Adams is that in those cases, there was objective and convincing evidence of another unidentified vehicle that could have been the source of the object that made contact with the insured vehicle. In Adams, there was a truck stopped in the same area of the road where the truck tire was located. In Hill, there was a campertruck passing by at the same moment the rock was sent flying. In Berry, the only case that is binding on this Court, there was a truck hauling scrap metal just down the road from the accident site and a piece of scrap metal in the road at the accident site. This case is more like Kersten, in that there was an object in the road and circumstantial evidence that it could have come from a vehicle, but no objective evidence of any vehicle in the area that could have been the source of the object.
Plaintiff testified that she did not see the ladder fall off a vehicle. She testified that she saw a vehicle in front of her in the center left lane just before she came upon the ladder, but this vehicle blocked her view of the ladder and thus was not the source of the ladder. Plaintiff also stated that there might have been another vehicle
Defendant's policy is somewhat different from those at issue in Kersten and Hill and from the statute at issue in Adams, because rather than requiring direct physical contact between an unidentified vehicle and the insured's vehicle, it provides that coverage is available in two situations: (1) where there is vehicle-to-vehicle contact (direct physical contact); and (2) where the unidentified vehicle causes an object to hit the insured's vehicle (indirect physical contact). It is undisputed that plaintiff's car was not hit by another car. Further, there was no evidence that another vehicle caused the ladder to hit plaintiff's car. Even if the phrase "cause an object to hit" was not limited to instances of a direct and immediate connection between the unidentified vehicle and the object, as in Hill, but could be interpreted to include instances of an indirect and intermediate connection between the unidentified vehicle and the object, as in Berry, there was still no evidence of another vehicle in the area that was carrying a ladder at or near the time of the accident.
If this were the only evidence presented below, we would reverse the order of the trial court. However, this case is factually distinguishable from the cases cited above. Plaintiff presented evidence of the location of the accident, which supports an inference that the ladder in question must have fallen off another vehicle. This accident occurred at the intersection of I-696 and I-75 in Royal Oak. In the location where the accident occurred, the freeway on which plaintiff was operating her vehicle, I-696, rises high above another freeway, I-75. Exhibit 1 of plaintiff's brief, which we reproduce here, depicts the area as follows:
The accident site is inaccessible to pedestrians and nonvehicular traffic. Other witnesses testified that no construction was taking place in the area at the time of the accident. The trial court concluded that "someone just didn't walk down the expressway ... carrying a ladder and drop it off," and noted, "I don't think it dropped from an airplane." Upon viewing the aerial photograph of the crash site, it is obvious that this accident occurred on a raised highway in an area that is only accessible to motor vehicles. A reasonable juror could conclude that there is no reasonable explanation for the presence of a ladder in the middle of an overpass soaring high above Royal Oak and inaccessible to nonvehicular traffic except that the ladder must have fallen off a vehicle. Accordingly, a reasonable juror could conclude that the presence of a ladder in the roadway, under these circumstances and in the absence of any other reasonable explanation for the ladder's presence, established a "substantial physical nexus" between a hit-and-run
Further, Berry, which is the only case that is binding on us, does not preclude us from considering the unique location of this accident in determining that a question of fact exists in this case. The Berry holding simply discussed a situation in which the Court determined that a "substantial physical nexus" was established by the proofs. See Berry, 219 Mich.App. at 350, 556 N.W.2d 207. This case does not require us to establish an affirmative link between a particular hit-and-run vehicle and the ladder lying in the roadway. And although the evidence does not establish an identifiable vehicle from which the ladder might have fallen, the evidence also permits a reasonable person to eliminate all reasonable sources for the presence of the ladder except one: the ladder fell off a vehicle (such as a work truck). Berry does not preclude us from considering whether evidence of an accident's location creates a question of fact with regard to whether a substantial physical nexus exists between the ladder and an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle. Although we find Kersten, Adams, and Hill useful to reflect on when considering the circumstances under which a "substantial physical nexus" can exist, these cases are not binding on us and do not require us to adopt a different outcome.
Although some degree of speculation is necessary to determine exactly how this ladder arrived at its location, we conclude that, under the unique set of facts in this case, such speculation is permissible. In fact, we believe that such speculation does not surpass the level of speculation permitted by the Berry Court when finding that a reasonable juror could conclude that the metal found in the roadway had fallen from a truck that a witness saw in the vicinity of the accident approximately 15 minutes before the accident.
We affirm the denial of the motion for summary disposition and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.