Motorcycle Coverage Policies

             Mahoney was injured while test driving a motorcycle. Michael Frontier was working on the motorcycle in a garage right before Mahoney took it out. Mahoney is seeking coverage under its homeowner’s insurer, Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company. However, Allstate sought a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Mahoney because certain motor-vehicle exclusions applied. The court had to determine whether a motorcycle was a motor vehicle, whether the motorcycle was in dead storage, and whether the injury arose out of both a non-vehicle cause and the use of the motorcycle, which would allow coverage for Mahoney.

The court held that a motorcycle was a motor vehicle because it had two wheels and an operating motor, and a person could ride it; it made no difference that the brakes were not functioning and it was not titled. The motor-vehicle exclusion expressly did not apply to vehicles in dead storage. A vehicle that is undergoing maintenance or is being started is not in dead storage. In this case, since Mahoney was operating the motorcycle on a public street, it was not in dead storage and the exclusion applied.

Since the insured negligently welded the brake pedal to the motorcycle, the use of the vehicle was not the only cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. The court noted that when there is motor vehicle exclusion, coverage will not be found unless the alleged negligence occurred wholly independent of any operation of the motor vehicle. The court held that the negligent welding of the brake pedal would not have been a proximate cause of the injury because Mahoney could not have been harmed from the negligent welding unless he was riding the motorcycle. The alleged negligence is not wholly independent of the use of the motorcycle and the insurer was not obligated to defend the insured.

 

Allstate Insurance Co. v. Mahoney, 960 N.E.2d 687 (Ill.App. 2 Dist., 2011), No. 2-10-1279