Jason Pease v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that a State Farm uninsured motorist policy's regular-use exclusion did not apply when the insured was injured by a person who stole his patrol vehicle. The court reasoned that, upon the theft, the vehicle ceased to be furnished for the insured's regular use and became a stolen vehicle. The court vacated the summary judgment for State Farm and remanded for further proceedings, without deciding whether the exclusion was otherwise valid under Maine's uninsured motorist statute.

Holdings

1. The regular-use exclusion did not apply because, when Montagna stole the patrol vehicle, it ceased to be a vehicle furnished for Pease's use and became a stolen vehicle.
2. The court did not reach the validity of the regular-use exclusion because the exclusion was inapplicable on the facts of the case.

Questions Presented

1. Whether State Farm's uninsured motorist policy exclusion for vehicles furnished for the insured's regular use applied when the vehicle was stolen from the insured and used to injure him.
2. Whether the regular-use exclusion was valid under Maine's uninsured motorist statute.

Disposition

vacated