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Home My WebLink About2007-5986 Civil PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF INSURANCE COMPANY, : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PLAINTIFF : : V. : : TONI GULICK, as Administratrix of the : Estate of LARRY GULICK, JR., : CYNTHIA K. JUMPER, : KRISTINE’S AUTO SALES and : KRISTINE GULICK, a minor, : DEFENDANTS : 07-5986 CIVIL TERM IN RE: DECLARATORY JUDGMENT BEFORE BAYLEY, J. OPINION AND ORDER OF COURT Bayley, J., November 23, 2009:-- On October 27, 1996, Larry Gulick, Jr., was operating a 1994 Chevrolet Camaro in which his daughter, Kristine Gulick, a minor, was a passenger. He was in a one car accident in which Kristine was injured. Gulick died on September 4, 1998. A suit was instituted on behalf of Kristine Gulick against the administratrix of Larry Gulick’s estate in which damages are sought for injuries Kristine incurred in the accident on October 27, 1996. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company instituted this suit seeking a declaratory judgment that an insurance policy it issued to Kristine’s Auto Sales, Larry G. Gulick, Jr. and Cynthia K. Jumper, effective October 22, 1996, does not provide coverage, nor require that it provide a defense, for the claims sought on behalf of 07-5986 CIVIL TERM Kristine Gulick in the lawsuit against the administratrix of the estate of her father. A bench trial was conducted on November 9, 2009. We find the following facts. Larry Gulick, Jr. operated Kristine’s Auto Sales. It was a garage operation in which Gulick purchased used automobiles for resale. On October 15, 1996, Kristine’s Auto Sales purchased at auction, from Auto Max, a 1994 Chevrolet Camaro. The transfer of the title was executed on October 18, 1996. The document listed 23,242 miles on the odometer of the Camaro. Cynthia K. Jumper was Larry Gulick’s girlfriend. Jumper owned an Eagle Talon but wanted another car. Gulick, operating as Kristine’s Auto Sales, purchased the Chevrolet Camaro in an understanding with Jumper that if she liked the vehicle it would be transferred to her. Otherwise, it would be sold to someone else. Kristine’s Auto Sales paid Auto Max $9,600 for the Chevrolet Camaro by trading Jumper’s Eagle Talon for $4,000, with $5,200 in cash provided by Jumper. Larry Gulick did not personally own a vehicle. After the Chevrolet Camaro was purchased by Kristine’s Auto Sales, he used it as his personal vehicle. He kept it at his house where his garage was located. Cynthia Jumper had driven the Camaro a few times before the accident on October 27, 1996, but had not decided if she wanted it. On October 27, 1996, Gulick and Kristine visited Jumper shortly before they were involved in the accident. By the time of the accident, when there were 25,270 miles on the odometer on the Camaro, Gulick had driven it 2,028 miles in less than two weeks. An insurance policy issued by Pennsylvania General Insurance Company to -2- 07-5986 CIVIL TERM Kristine’s Auto Sales, Larry G. Gulick, Jr., and Cynthia K. Jumper, effective October 22, 1996, provided various coverages including garage coverage for: 27 = SPECIFICALLY DESCRIBED “AUTOS”. Only those “autos” ITEM SEVEN described in OF THE Non-Dealers’ and Trailer Dealers’ ITEM NINE Supplementary Schedule or of the Dealers’ Supplementary Schedule for which a premium charge is shown (and for Liability Coverage any “trailers” you don’t own while attached to a power unit ITEM SEVEN ITEM NINE described in or ). 28 = HIRED “AUTOS” ONLY. Only those “autos” you lease, hire, rent or borrow. This does not include any “auto” you lease, hire, rent or borrow from any of your employees or partners or members of their household. 29 = NON-OWNED “AUTOS” USED IN YOUR GARAGE BUSINESS. Any “auto” you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow used in connection with your garage business described in the Declarations. This includes “autos” owned by your employees or partners or members of their households while used in your garage business. An endorsement to the policy provided coverage for two dealer registration plates “not issued for a specific auto:” F46-580-1F and F46-580-F. All of these coverages were identical to those in the binder which was forwarded to Pennsylvania 1 General by an agent, the Christian Baker Company. The premium for the policy, which provided coverage for a period of one year, had separate charges for both the garage coverage and the coverage for the two dealer plates. Kristine’s Auto Sales had a third 2 dealer plate, F541-48-F, which it did not insure with Pennsylvania General. It was this __________ 1 The application for insurance sought coverage to include item number 21 “ANY ‘AUTO.’” Pennsylvania General would not provide coverage for “Any ‘Auto.’” That coverage was not issued in the binder that obligated Pennsylvania General, nor in the insurance policy issued by Pennsylvania General, nor was it paid for by the insured. 2 That dealer plate was added to the Pennsylvania General policy effective April 29, -3- 07-5986 CIVIL TERM uninsured dealer plate that was on the Chevrolet Camaro when Larry Gulick was operating it for his personal use at the time of the accident on October 27, 1996. After the accident, Larry Gulick enlisted Cynthia Jumper in a scheme to backdate a title transfer to her of the 1994 Chevrolet Camaro from Kristine’s Auto Sales to October 25, 1996. Larry Gulick had Cynthia Jumper sign the title transfer documents, with that date, without a notary present. He executed the backdated document on behalf of the seller, Kristine’s Auto Sales. The signatures on the documents were notarized. DISCUSSION Pennsylvania General maintains that its insurance policy which was effective October 22, 1996, does not provide coverage applicable to the accident on October 27, 1996. In the alternative, it maintains that if its insurance policy does provide coverage applicable to the accident on October 27, 1996, the fraudulent transfer of title of the 1994 Camaro from Kristine’s Auto Sales to Cynthia Jumper backdated to October 25, 1997, vitiates such coverage. Although two dealer plates issued to Kristine’s Auto Sales were included in the insurance coverage, the dealer plate on the Chevrolet Camaro at the time of the accident on October 27, 1996, was not included in the coverage. As to the coverages provided in item numbers 27, 28 and 29, the 1994 Chevrolet Camaro was not a specifically described automobile included in a supplementary schedule covered in 1997. -4- 07-5986 CIVIL TERM number 27. It was not an automobile leased, hired, rented or borrowed so as to be included in number 28. Rather, it was an automobile owned by Kristine’s Auto Sales. It was not included in the coverage in number 29 for “NON-OWNED ‘AUTOS’ USED IN YOUR GARAGE BUSINESS,” which covered: “Any ‘auto’ you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow used in connection with your garage business described in the Declarations.” Again, it was an automobile owned by Kristine’s Auto Sales. Accordingly, because the dealer plate on the 1994 Chevrolet Camaro at the time Larry Gulick was involved in the accident while using the vehicle for his personal use, was not insured by Pennsylvania General Insurance Company, and because the coverages provided by Pennsylvania General Insurance Company in items number 27, 28 and 29 are not applicable to the accident on October 27, 1996, the insurance policy effective October 22,1996, does not provide coverage for the claims sought in the suit instituted on behalf of Kristine Gulick against the administratrix of the estate of Larry Gulick for 3 injuries incurred by Kristine Gulick in the accident on October 27, 1996. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company owes no duty to defend against the claims in the complaint filed in that case because the facts alleged do not bring it within its policy D’Auria v. Zurich Insurance Company, coverage. See 352 Pa. Super. 231 (1986). __________ 3 Since the Pennsylvania General Insurance Company policy does not provide insurance coverage applicable to the accident on October 27, 1996, we do not have to address the alternative position of the company that the fraudulent backdated transfer of title from Kristine’s Auto Sales to Cynthia Jumper vitiates any coverage. We note that it is pretty obvious that Larry Gulick knew what insurance coverage he had purchased when he fraudulently backdated the title transfer of the Camaro. -5- 07-5986 CIVIL TERM ORDER OF COURT IT IS DECREED THAT AND NOW, this day of November, 2009, an -6- 07-5986 CIVIL TERM insurance policy issued by Pennsylvania General Insurance Company effective October 22, 1996, does not provide coverage, nor require that Pennsylvania General Insurance Company provide a defense, for the claims sought in a suit instituted on behalf of Kristine Gulick against the administratrix of the estate of Larry Gulick for injuries incurred by Kristine Gulick in an accident on October 27, 1996. By the Court, Edgar B. Bayley, J. Scott D. McCarroll, Esquire P.O. Box 999 305 North Front Street Harrisburg, PA 17108 For Plaintiff Girard E. Rickards, Esquire 44 East Philadelphia Street York, PA 17401 For Defendants :sal -7- PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF INSURANCE COMPANY, : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PLAINTIFF : : V. : : TONI GULICK, as Administratrix of the : Estate of LARRY GULICK, JR., : CYNTHIA K. JUMPER, : KRISTINE’S AUTO SALES and : KRISTINE GULICK, a minor, : DEFENDANTS : 07-5986 CIVIL TERM IN RE: DECLARATORY JUDGMENT BEFORE BAYLEY, J. ORDER OF COURT IT IS DECREED THAT AND NOW, this day of November, 2009, an insurance policy issued by Pennsylvania General Insurance Company effective October 22, 1996, does not provide coverage, nor require that Pennsylvania General Insurance Company provide a defense, for the claims sought in a suit instituted on behalf of Kristine Gulick against the administratrix of the estate of Larry Gulick for injuries incurred by Kristine Gulick in an accident on October 27, 1996. By the Court, Edgar B. Bayley, J. 07-5986 CIVIL TERM Scott D. McCarroll, Esquire P.O. Box 999 305 North Front Street Harrisburg, PA 17108 For Plaintiff Girard E. Rickards, Esquire 44 East Philadelphia Street York, PA 17401 For Defendants :sal -2-