In Erie Insurance Grp. v. Catania, in August 2009, Jack Catania was driving a delivery truck for work when he swerved to avoid another vehicle.  In doing so, he lost control of his truck and suffered injuries.  The other vehicle fled the scene.  Catania had a personal policy with Erie at the time.  Because the other driver fled, the other vehicle was considered an uninsured motor vehicle, and Catania made a claim for uninsured motorist coverage with Erie.

Erie filed a declaratory judgment action to determine it was not obligated to provide uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage for an employee who was injured while driving a work vehicle and subsequently made a claim under his personal insurance policy.  The court held Erie did not have to provide coverage because the work vehicle fit the “regularly used non-owned vehicle” exclusion contained in that policy.   While Catania regularly used the truck, he did not own it.  As a result, it was excluded under Catania’s personal policy with Erie.

Thanks to Robert Turchick for his contribution to this post.