Chase Wisness v. Nodak Mutual Insurance Company and Eric Mogen

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Nodak Mutual Insurance Company, holding that a Farm and Ranch Excess Liability Policy provided only third-party liability coverage and did not cover the plaintiff's first-party underinsured motorist claim. The court also held that an underinsured-motorist exclusion could not create coverage where the policy's insuring agreement did not otherwise provide it. The text identifies the opinion as Wisness v. Nodak Mutual Insurance Company and Eric Mogen, despite the supplied document title referring to Gottus v. Job Service North Dakota.

Holdings

1. The Farm and Ranch Excess Liability Policy did not provide underinsured motorist coverage because its insuring agreement covered only amounts the insured became legally liable to pay to third parties, whereas Wisness asserted a first-party claim for underinsured motorist benefits.
2. An exclusion cannot create or expand coverage that is absent from the policy's insuring agreement. The policy's underinsured motorist exclusion neither created an ambiguity nor provided underinsured motorist coverage.
3. The later 2007 policy and endorsement were not relevant to determining coverage under the policy at issue because the later policy was issued after the events giving rise to the claim and was not the policy governing the accident.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Farm and Ranch Excess Liability Policy's insuring agreement provided underinsured motorist coverage for Wisness's first-party claim.
2. Whether the policy's exclusion for liability imposed under uninsured- or underinsured-motorist laws created an ambiguity or independently provided underinsured motorist coverage.
3. Whether a later-issued policy or endorsement could be considered to establish ambiguity or coverage under the policy in effect when the accident occurred.

Disposition

affirmed