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Third Circuit Court Holds That Car Driven By Co-employee Is Not Uninsured Or Underinsured VehicleAttached is the link to the Not Precedential Opinion from May 28, 2009 in Shaw v. State Farm Insurance Co. where the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the Western District Court decision which held that State Farm was not required to provide uninsured motorist and/or underinsured motorist benefits to an individual injured in a work related car accident caused by a co-employee operating his employer's vehicle.
David Shaw (Shaw) was hurt when a co-employee caused the accident and he sustained injuries. The liability limit for the car being operated by the co-employee was $5 million. Shaw recovered workers compensation benefits and under Pennsylvania law could not make a negligence claim against his co-employee. He then made a claim for benefits with his carrier State Farm. The company denied the coverage claiming that Shaw was not entitled to the coverage because he was not entitled to coverage by law. Shaw appealed and the Third Circuit affirms on different grounds. Instead of addressing the issue of whether Shaw is entitled to coverage by law the Circuit Court finds that he is not entitled to either uninsured or underinsured coverage because the vehicle driven by the negligent employee was not uninsured (it had a $5 million liability limit) nor underinsured (the parties stipulated that the injuries were not worth more than $5 million). Thus, the District Court decision is affirmed.
http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/083285np.pdfScott B. Cooper
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