Progressive Premier Insurance Company v. Kocher

State: Illinois

Court: 5th District Appellate

Docket No: 5-07-0468 Rel

Case Date: 07/13/2010

Preview:NO. 5-07-0468
NOTICE Decision filed 07/13/10. The text of this decision may be changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Peti tion for Rehearing or th e

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________ PROGRESSIVE PREMIER INSURANCE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of ) Richland County. Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) v. ) No. 06-MR-28 ) LUKE KOCHER, a Minor, by and Through the ) Guardian ad litem , Jeffrey E. Fleming, ) Honorable ) Larry D. Dunn, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, presiding. ________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE CHAPMAN delivered the opinion of the court: This appeal requires us to construe a limitation-of-liability provision in a vehicle insurance policy and to determine the effect of that provision where two of the three vehicles covered under the policy crashed into each other. The plaintiff, Progressive Premier

disposition of the same.

Insurance Company of Illinois (Progressive), appeals an order of the trial court finding in favor of the defendant, Luke Kocher, in a declaratory judgment action in which Progressive sought a ruling declaring that Luke's recovery was limited to the bodily injury liability limits for only one of the vehicles. We affirm. This case involves an accident that occurred when Luke Kocher was riding as a passenger on an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) driven by his father, Timothy Kocher. Luke's brother, Nick Kocher, was driving a motorcycle. The motorcycle and the ATV collided. As a result, Luke suffered head injuries requiring five days of initial hospitalization and three surgeries. At the time of the accident, both vehicles were covered under an insurance policy

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issued by Progressive to Timothy and Paula Kocher. The policy also covered a third vehicle, another motorcycle. Under a section entitled "Limits of Liability," the policy provides as follows: "The limit of liability shown on the Declarations Page is the most we will pay regardless of the number of: 1. claims made; 2. covered vehicles; 3. trailers shown on the Declarations Page ; 4. insured persons ; 5. lawsuits brought; 6. vehicles involved in an accident; or 7. premiums paid." The declarations page itself states, "The policy limits shown for a vehicle may not be combined with the limits for the same coverage on another vehicle." The policy limits appear on the declarations page in an "Outline of coverage," which consists of four sections. The first section is titled "General policy coverage." The other three sections pertain to each of the covered vehicles. Each section is laid out as a chart with four columns. The four columns are essentially the same in each section of the outline of coverage

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