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Marshall v. Safeguard Mut. Fire Ins. Co.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Dec 12, 1963
195 A.2d 804 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1963)

Summary

construing phrase "is being operated" in context of parked car which rolls backward into other vehicles

Summary of this case from McCrink v. Peoples Benefit Life Insurance Company

Opinion

November 12, 1963.

December 12, 1963.

Insurance — Automobile collision or upset — Exclusionary clause while automobile "is being operated" by third person — Actual physical operation — Movement of car after being parked by third person — Construction of policy.

In this case, in which it appeared that an automobile insurance policy provided coverage for direct or actual damage caused by collision of the automobile with another object or by upset, and that it contained a provision that the policy did not cover while the automobile "is being operated" by anyone other than the named insured or a member of his immediate household, unless expressly permitted by the company; that plaintiff averred that while the automobile was parked and unattended it drifted backward and collided with other vehicles, causing damage; that defendant averred that the automobile had been delivered to A, who was neither the named insured nor a member of insured's immediate household, that A had borrowed the automobile in furtherance of her own business, that A had parked the automobile after driving it, and that while so parked the automobile had drifted backward; and that the court below, holding that the exclusionary provision referred only to actual physical operation of the automobile by a third person, that, under the pleadings, there was no connection between the use of the vehicle and the accident, and that the policy was to be construed most strongly against the insurer and any doubt or ambiguity was to be resolved in favor of the insured, entered judgment on the pleadings for plaintiff; it was Held that the judgment of the court below should be affirmed.

Before RHODES, P.J., ERVIN, WRIGHT, WOODSIDE, WATKINS, MONTGOMERY, and FLOOD, JJ.

Appeal, No. 185, April T., 1963, from judgment of Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County, Dec. T., 1962, No. 110, in case of Patricia W. Marshall v. Safeguard Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Judgment affirmed.

Same case in court below: 32 Pa. D. C. 2d 24.

Assumpsit.

Plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings granted, opinion by SOHN, J. Defendant appealed.

Samuel C. Nissenbaum, with him Norton A. Freedman, for appellant.

No argument was made nor brief submitted for appellee.


Argued November 12, 1963.


The judgment entered for plaintiff by the court below is affirmed on the opinion of Judge SOHN of the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County, as reported in 32 Pa. D. C. 2d 24.


Summaries of

Marshall v. Safeguard Mut. Fire Ins. Co.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Dec 12, 1963
195 A.2d 804 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1963)

construing phrase "is being operated" in context of parked car which rolls backward into other vehicles

Summary of this case from McCrink v. Peoples Benefit Life Insurance Company

construing phrase "is being operated" in insurance policy to mean "actual physical control" of automobile

Summary of this case from McCrink v. Peoples Benefit Life Insurance Company

In Marshall, the court affirmed a common pleas court decision in which that court construed the words "is being operated" to mean "actual physical control of the automobile" by the driver.

Summary of this case from DICKENSON v. PATE
Case details for

Marshall v. Safeguard Mut. Fire Ins. Co.

Case Details

Full title:Marshall v. Safeguard Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Appellant

Court:Superior Court of Pennsylvania

Date published: Dec 12, 1963

Citations

195 A.2d 804 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1963)
195 A.2d 804

Citing Cases

McCrink v. Peoples Benefit Life Insurance Company

This construction is consistent with Pennsylvania case law construing the term "operating." For instance, in…

DICKENSON v. PATE

) {¶ 15} Appellants rely in part upon two cases from other jurisdictions, Marshall v. Safeguard Mut. Fire…