Huggins v. Yoshiwara

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Opinion

SULLIVAN, J.

Plaintiff and cross-defendant Ethel M. Huggins, administratrix of the estate of Argust D. Huggins, deceased, appeals from a judgment declaring that a certain homeowner’s insurance policy issued by cross-complainant, The Travelers Indemnity Company, did not cover her claim for the wrongful death of said deceased due to the negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

On April 4, 1966, defendant and cross-complainant, Yoshiwara, driving his 1963 Ford pickup truck, collided with a car in which Argust D. Huggins, the deceased, was riding. The accident occurred at an intersection near Oxnard. Huggins was killed.

On the date of the accident Yoshiwara had two policies of insurance issued by cross-complainant The Travelers Indemnity Company (Travelers). One was the common form of automobile liability policy with maximum limits of $50,000 for bodily injury or death and $1,000 for property damage. The other was a homeowner’s policy, issued on July 26, 1965, with maximum limits of $25,000 for one occurrence; the insured premises under this policy was Yoshiwara’s home in Los Angeles.

Huggins’ wife, in her capacity as administratrix of his estate, brought an action for wrongful death against Yoshiwara. Mrs. Huggins, Yoshiwara, and Travelers thereafter entered into a stipulation

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providing for a determination by the court below of the rights and duties of the parties in respect to the homeowner’s policy issued by Travelers to Yoshiwara and of the applicability of said policy to the accident in which Mr. Huggins met his death.

The homeowner’s policy in question provided that “The Travelers agrees to pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury [which is defined to include death from bodily injury] or property damage, . . .’’.That section of the policy providing this coverage was expressly

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