Callihan v. Hiatt
Callihan v. Hiatt
Opinion of the Court
Does a provision in a boatowners policy that excludes liability coverage for the named insured violate public policy? This is the sole issue before us.
Daniel L. Callihan (Callihan) was killed in a boating accident on the Tickfaw River in Livingston Parish on August 3, 1996. His wife, Charmaine Callihan, and their two children, Daniel L. Callihan, Jr., and Brianne Callihan (plaintiffs), sued Brett Hiatt, the operator of the boat. Plaintiffs also sued State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (defendant), which had issued a boatowners policy insuring the boat involved in the accident. The policy provided property-damage and watercraft-liability coverage, with the following exclusion under the watercraft-liability coverage: “[Watercraft liability] does not apply to ... bodily injury to you.... ” “You” is defined in the policy as the named insured, who, in this case, was Callihan.
Defendant moved for summary judgment, asserting the named-insured exclusion. Plaintiffs filed a cross-motion, asserting the exclusion was void as against public policy. The trial court found the policy language clearly excluded coverage to Callihan. It granted plaintiffs’ motion, however, and denied defendant’s, decreeing that the named-insured exclusion was void. Defendant then filed this application for supervisory writs, contending the trial court erred in denying its motion.
It is also the intent of this Section that all liability policies within their terms and limits are executed for the benefit of all injured persons and their survivors or heirs to whom the insured is liable; and, that it is the purpose of all liability policies to give protection and coverage to all insureds, whether they are named insured or additional insureds under the omnibus clause, for any legal Lability said insured may have as or for a tort-feasor within the terms and limits of said policy.
The Clarke court noted that the Louisiana compulsory-liabihty law, Revised Statute 32:861, reinforced that policy. It quoted Fields v. Western Preferred Casualty Company,
In this case, the trial court adopted the Clarke reasoning in invalidating the exclusion, stating: “A boat is more analogous to an automobile than to a residence or home.” What the trial court overlooked, however, is that the Clarke result was based on the compulsory nature of automobile-liability insurance. There is no compulsory liability-insurance requirement for watercraft.
In the recent case of Saltzman v. Broussard,
[T]he vast regulatory scheme of Title 32 ... is the result of the legislature’s recognition of a public need for the regulation of “dangerous undertakings” and the suppression of “mischief’ on the highways through mandatory insurance coverage. No such poLcy considerations have been codified or created in jurisprudence for homeowner insurance poli-*304 cíes similar to those in place for automobile insurance policies.
Motor vehicle policies are statutorily mandated and stringently regulated.... Homeowner policies are elective. Consequently, we |4cannot expound a similar rationale under the facts of this case. Should the legislature recognize a public need to regulate homeowner’s insurance or boating insurance and/or personal general liability policies ..., we might be justified in extending that rationale. However, “an insurer has a right to restrict his liability unless such restriction conflicts with statutory requirements or is contrary to public policy.”8
Plaintiffs argue Clarke was not based solely on the compulsory nature of automobile-liability insurance but also relied on the direct-action statute’s policy of protecting injured persons. The Saltzman court addressed this argument, finding the statute could not on its own be extended to protect an excluded co-insured. It stated: “The policy behind the statute is to protect the public by giving them access to the insured’s coverage, not to protect the insured for his own injuries.”
This circuit also addressed the argument that the direct-action statute extends coverage under liability policies to all injured persons in Jenkins v. CNA Insurance Company.
[T]he direct action statute does not guarantee [plaintiff] the right to recover damages from [the insurer] regardless of the coverage afforded by the policy. La.R.S. 22:655B(1) clearly provides that the injured person has a right of direct action against the insurer “within the terms and limits of the policy.” Thus, while [plaintiff] is entitled to bring a direct action against [the insurer], because the policy clearly and unambiguously excludes coverage for the claims she asserts, she is not entitled to recover damages from [the insurer].12
We further note that Revised Statute 22:655(C) states: “It is the intent of this Section that any action brought under the provisions of this Section shall be subject to all of the lawful conditions of the policy or contract....”
The parties agree there are no genuine issues of material fact herein; this matter was before the court strictly on the legal issue of coverage. As the trial court found, the | .¡State Farm policy in question clearly excludes coverage to plaintiffs because Daniel L. Callihan was the named insured. We find, as a matter of law, that an exclusion of coverage for the named insured in a boatowners policy does not violate the public policy of this state. The trial court thus erred in denying defendant’s motion for summary judgment. We hereby grant defendant’s writ and make it peremptory. We thus grant defendant’s motion for summary judgment and render judgment in favor of defendant, State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, dismissing plaintiffs’ claims against it at plaintiffs’ cost.
WRIT GRANTED AND MADE PEREMPTORY; JUDGMENT RENDERED
. Defendant also appealed the granting of plaintiffs’ motion. That appeal is decided this date under docket number 98 CA 1728.
. See, e.g., George v. White Consol. Indus., Inc., 31,133, pp. 7-8 (La.App.2d Cir.11/6/98), 721 So.2d 573, 577; Marchese v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 396 So.2d 490, 492 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1981).
. 469 So.2d 319 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1985).
. 437 So.2d 344, 346 (La.App. 2d Cir.), writs denied, 440 So.2d 528, (La. 1983).
. 469 So.2d at 322 (Emphasis in original.)
. 607 So.2d 838 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1992).
. 98-1065 (La.App. 3d Cir.2/3/99), 736 So.2d 243.
. 98-1065 at 9-10, 736 So.2d at 248 (citations omitted).
. 98-1065 at 7, 736 So.2d at 246 (emphasis added).
.98-1065 at 3, 736 So.2d at 747.
. 98-0022 (La.App. 1st Cir.12/28/98), 726 So.2d 71.
. 98-0022 at 10, 726 So.2d at 77.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.