Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Company v. Mary Bakke, Johnny Bakke, Jo Lynn Wood, Karla Vigil and Lawrence Vigil

Summary

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Company in a declaratory-judgment action concerning its duty to defend or indemnify claims arising from a motorcycle collision. Applying New Mexico law, the court held that clear policy exclusions for bodily injury to motorcycle riders were enforceable because the policy was not certified as proof of financial responsibility under the New Mexico Financial Responsibility Act. The court also held that the injured passenger could not invoke the Bakkes' uninsured-motorist coverage because that coverage was first-party insurance.

Holdings

1. The policy's exclusion for bodily injury to any person while on, getting on, or alighting from the insured vehicle was clear, unambiguous, conspicuous, and applicable to Wood's injuries as a motorcycle passenger.
2. Farmers had no duty to defend or indemnify Mary Bakke or Johnny Bakke in an action seeking damages arising from the collision because the alleged injury fell within the valid passenger exclusion.
3. The passenger exclusion was not repugnant to the New Mexico Financial Responsibility Act because the policy was not certified as evidence of financial responsibility under that Act.
4. Wood, as a third party, could not claim against the Bakkes' uninsured-motorist coverage because that coverage was designed as first-party insurance and was personal to the insured.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the policy's exclusion for bodily injury to a person while on, getting on, or alighting from the insured vehicle was clear and enforceable.
2. Whether enforcing the passenger exclusion violated the public policy embodied in the New Mexico Financial Responsibility Act.
3. Whether Jo Lynn Wood could recover under the policy's uninsured-motorist provisions if the liability exclusion applied.

Disposition

affirmed