The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a commercial auto insurance company does not have to cover the damages or liability that resulted from the policyholder’s road rage. In short, assault and battery are not considered to be part of a person’s job responsibilities.
Michael Bryant is the co-owner of a company called Prime Cut Meat Market. He was driving a truck that had Prime Cut decals on it. However, the truck was owned and registered to Bryant individually. My best guess is that this truck was being used as a company vehicle. This can make insurance coverage a bit confusing.
Commercial vehicle insurance is designed to cover trucks, cars, and other vehicles that are owned and operated by a business. It provides coverage for liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments, (or personal injury protection), and uninsured motorist coverage. It can also be called commercial auto insurance, commercial car insurance, truck insurance or fleet insurance.
Commercial vehicle insurance does not cover cars, trucks, or other vehicles that are owned by an individual, or that are covered by an individual auto insurance policy. The reverse is also true. A person’s individual car insurance policy will not cover cover his or her business vehicles.
In other words, Michael Bryant was driving a vehicle that he very likely was using as a company vehicle, but that was a vehicle that he personally owned that was registered to him. He drove this truck to a campground, where he went with his son. His son was in the truck when the road rage incident occurred.
Francis Lantonowich was driving on the same road as Michael Bryant at the time that Bryant was driving away from the campground. Apparently, Bryant was of the opinion that Lantanowich was driving in a way that put other drivers (including himself) at risk. When the two drivers reached a stoplight, Bryant exited his truck, walked over to Lantonowich’s vehicle, and “struck Lantonowich repeatedly in the head and chest”.
Francis Lantonowich, and his wife, sued Michael Bryant for “assault and battery, false imprisonment, negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress”. In general, a person’s auto insurance policy will cover some costs due to liability. Prime Cut Meat Market is covered by Traveler’s Indemnity Co.. Part of the court case included an argument about whether or not Bryant was leaving the campground to go check on the to go check on Prime Cut’s store freezers. If so, then perhaps it could be said that he was using the company vehicle in an official capacity.
However, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that Traveler’s was not responsible for covering the damages, because the policy covers “only for acts within the scope of their employment, or while preforming duties related to the conduct of your business”. Getting out of the vehicle, and beating someone up, does not fit that description.
Image by Benny Mazur on Flickr