Case Notes

Insurance Carrier Not Responsible for Teen's Suicide

An insurance carrier will not have to be financially responsible for the suicide of a 16-year-old living with her mother and her mother's gun-owning boyfriend, a PA common pleas judge has ruled.

Judge Michael A. George ruled in Erie Insurance Exchange v. Reisinger that a policy exclusion for bodily injury to residents younger than 21 living in the home applied in the case, despite the fact that the decedent was not a blood relative of the boyfriend, who owned the home, and had initially intended only to live at the home temporarily.

In August 2010, Elizabeth Weaver died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Reisinger's home, where her mother, Denise Weaver, also lived.

Her natural father, Carroll Weaver, acting on behalf of Elizabeth Weaver's estate, sued her mother's boyfriend, Reisinger, in a wrongful-death and survival action. The suit alleged that Reisinger was negligent for failing to secure the firearm Elizabeth Weaver used, failing to supervise Weaver, and failing to “exercise reasonable care under circumstances where a 16-year-old teenager with a history of mental health” problems lived in a home with a firearm.

Erie Insurance sought a declaratory judgment seeking to determine the extent of the coverage that Reisinger's homeowner's insurance policy provided. The carrier sought to avoid all liability under a section in the policy excluding bodily injury coverage to residents of the household under 21 years of age who were in the care of the insured.

According to Judge George, the only other Pennsylvania case to interpret the phrase “in the care of” was the 2008 state Superior Court decision in Mitsock v. Erie Insurance Exchange.

The case, George said, dealt with whether the phrase was ambiguous. Using a dictionary, the court held that the phrase should connote a level of “support, guidance and responsibility that is most often present in situations where an insured cares for a minor child, an elderly person or an incapacitated individual.”

Based on the considerations outlined in Mitsock, and the evidence in the record, George held it was clear that Elizabeth Weaver was under Reisinger's care.

' Max Mitchell, The Legal Intelligencer

'

Insurance Carrier Not Responsible for Teen's Suicide

An insurance carrier will not have to be financially responsible for the suicide of a 16-year-old living with her mother and her mother's gun-owning boyfriend, a PA common pleas judge has ruled.

Judge Michael A. George ruled in Erie Insurance Exchange v. Reisinger that a policy exclusion for bodily injury to residents younger than 21 living in the home applied in the case, despite the fact that the decedent was not a blood relative of the boyfriend, who owned the home, and had initially intended only to live at the home temporarily.

In August 2010, Elizabeth Weaver died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Reisinger's home, where her mother, Denise Weaver, also lived.

Her natural father, Carroll Weaver, acting on behalf of Elizabeth Weaver's estate, sued her mother's boyfriend, Reisinger, in a wrongful-death and survival action. The suit alleged that Reisinger was negligent for failing to secure the firearm Elizabeth Weaver used, failing to supervise Weaver, and failing to “exercise reasonable care under circumstances where a 16-year-old teenager with a history of mental health” problems lived in a home with a firearm.

Erie Insurance sought a declaratory judgment seeking to determine the extent of the coverage that Reisinger's homeowner's insurance policy provided. The carrier sought to avoid all liability under a section in the policy excluding bodily injury coverage to residents of the household under 21 years of age who were in the care of the insured.

According to Judge George, the only other Pennsylvania case to interpret the phrase “in the care of” was the 2008 state Superior Court decision in Mitsock v. Erie Insurance Exchange.

The case, George said, dealt with whether the phrase was ambiguous. Using a dictionary, the court held that the phrase should connote a level of “support, guidance and responsibility that is most often present in situations where an insured cares for a minor child, an elderly person or an incapacitated individual.”

Based on the considerations outlined in Mitsock, and the evidence in the record, George held it was clear that Elizabeth Weaver was under Reisinger's care.

' Max Mitchell, The Legal Intelligencer

'