Buehrer v. Meyers

Summary

The Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment declaring that a homeowners insurance policy provided no personal liability or medical-payments coverage for claims arising from the insured’s in-home child-care services. The court held that the policy clearly and unambiguously defined applicable home day-care services as a business and that the undisputed facts did not satisfy any exception to the business definition. The court also concluded that the parties’ differing opinions about whether the activity constituted a business did not create a genuine issue of material fact.

Holdings

1. The homeowners insurance policy clearly and unambiguously defined home day-care services provided by an insured as a business and excluded personal-liability and medical-payments coverage for bodily injury arising out of an insured's business.
2. Kristy Meyers' regular in-home child-care services constituted a business under the homeowners policy, even though she did not formally advertise, did not regard the activity as a business, and may have had motives beyond profit.
3. Summary judgment for Auto-Owners was proper because no genuine issue of material fact remained and reasonable minds could reach only the conclusion that the policy excluded coverage for appellants' claims.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the homeowners insurance policy's definition of business and its business exclusion were clear and unambiguous.
2. Whether the undisputed facts established that Kristy Meyers' in-home child-care activities constituted a business under the policy.
3. Whether a genuine issue of material fact precluded summary judgment concerning application of the business exclusion and Auto-Owners' coverage obligations.

Disposition

affirmed