State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and Nationwide Assurance Company (f/k/a Colonial Insurance Company of Wisconsin) v. Richard D. Buckingham, III

Summary

The Supreme Court of Delaware held that injuries sustained when an unidentified motorist exited his vehicle and assaulted the insured did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the uninsured motor vehicle. Applying the three-part test from Continental Insurance Co. v. Klug, the court concluded that the assault was an act of independent significance that broke the causal link, even though the vehicle transported the assailant to the scene and was involved in the events leading to the confrontation. The court reversed the Superior Court's grant of summary judgment for the insured.

Holdings

1. Buckingham's injuries did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the uninsured motor vehicle because the assailant's intentional and criminal assault was an act of independent significance that broke the causal link between the vehicle's use and the injuries.
2. Neither State Farm's nor Nationwide's uninsured motorist policy provided coverage for Buckingham's injuries.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Buckingham's injuries from an intentional assault by an unidentified motorist arose out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle under the State Farm and Nationwide uninsured motorist policies.
2. Whether the Superior Court correctly applied the three-factor test from Continental Insurance Co. v. Klug.

Disposition

reversed