Coverage Quiz (Q4 2025)

 

By Al Haverkamp of Lucas & Haverkamp

1Question: This quiz involves uninsured motorist (“UM”) coverage. Mr. Ruiz was driving when a car struck his vehicle as well as a van owned by Group Manuf. Services (“GMS”). Ruiz was not injured in this collision and he exited his vehicle and walked 200 feet to check on the occupants of the GMS van. Ruiz saw that the passenger in the van was injured, opened the door and assisted the passenger out of the van. As he was about one foot from the passenger door, attempting to talk to the driver, he was struck by an uninsured motorist and suffered serious injuries. The GMS van was insured by Atlantic Mutual and the policy provided $1M in UM coverage. Ruiz sought UM coverage under the Atlantic policy. Atlantic denied coverage on the grounds that Ruiz did not qualify as an insured. The term “insured” included “anyone occupying a covered auto” and “occupying” was further defined to “mean in, upon, getting in, on, out, or off.” Atlantic argued Ruiz was never an occupant of the van, had no intention of occupying it, had only minimal contact with the van, and was unknown to GMS. Is there coverage?
Answer: Yes. The court focused on the word “upon”, one definition of which was close physical proximity. The court also noted the public policy underlying UM coverage was to provide compensation for those injured by the use of an automobile and through no fault of their own. See Atlantic Mutual Ins. Co. v Ruiz (2004) 123 Cal. App. 1197