The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia recently held by way of signed opinion that an insurer’s denial of underinsured motorists (UIM) coverage to a policyholder following an off-road collision with a utility-terrain vehicle (UTV) was not in conflict with West Virginia’s statue providing for mandatory underinsured motorists insurance. The Court in its rationale relied upon the fact that a UTV is not legally required to be registered in the State of West Virginia and was being driven on a road that was closed to normal traffic and therefore did not meet the definition of a motor vehicle under the policy.
The Petitioners were parents of participants in a street parade. These participants were passengers on a parade float connected to a Ford F-150 pickup truck insured under an insurers policy of insurance. The parade float was involved in a crash when a UTV, also in the parade and following behind the pickup truck, unexpectedly accelerated and struck the ramp of the parade float, which subsequently collapsed. The Petitioners made a claim for UIM benefits under the policy for injuries to the participants.
Attorneys Matthew Perry and Jill Lansden were able to successfully argue the denial of coverage for the Petitioners’ UIM claims by finding that the UTV did not qualify as a “motor vehicle” as defined under the insurers policy. The policy’s definition of “motor vehicle” included “any vehicle that is self-propelled and is required to be registered under the laws of the state in which ‘you’ reside …” Under W.Va. Code § 17A-3-2, the UTV was not required to be registered in the State of West Virginia. The Court, in applying this statute, concluded that because the UTV was not required to be registered under West Virginia law, it was not a “motor vehicle” as defined by the policy.
The Court further relied upon West Virginia precedent, which has held that an insurance policy may lawfully exclude coverage from vehicles that are exempted from W.Va. Code § 17A-3-2’s registration and licensing requirements. According to the Court, such an exclusion in an insurance policy does not conflict with West Virginia statute because mandatory uninsured motorists coverage is meant to protect drivers from injury caused by those who have failed to acquire the liability insurance required for licensing and registering a vehicle. Vehicles exempted from registration and licensing are similarly exempted from mandatory liability insurance. Consequently, it would not further the purpose of West Virginia’s UIM statute to require UIM coverage for vehicles excepted from West Virginia’s registration and licensing requirements.