Harlow v. Huff

This case is before the Court on the Bill of Complaint for Declaratory Relief filed by the Petitioner, Shylah Anne Harlow. On March 13, 1998, Ms. Harlow was injured in an automobile accident involving the defendant Stephen Huff. At the time Mr. Huff was operating a 1987 Nissan Maxima owned by defendants John and Lori Schlacter and insured with the Nationwide Insurance Company. Petitioner contends that she is entitled to a determination by this Court that at the time of the accident Huff was covered by the Schlacter's policy.

Central to a determination of the issue raised in this case is whether Huff was operating the vehicle with the implied permission of the Schlacters within the contemplation of the "omnibus" clause of the policy and Virginia law. Va. Code Ann. §38.2-2204.

On the day of the accident, Jay Gallihugh was operating the Schlacter vehicle with the permission of the owners. He is Mr. Schlacter's stepson and a permissive user of the Nissan. There came a time on the evening of March 13, 1998, when Jay Gallihugh allowed Mr. Huff to drive the Nissan while Gallihugh had dinner with Mr. Huff's sister. Some time afterwards,

Mr. Gallihugh learned that Mr. Huff had been involved in the accident involving the Schlacter's Nissan.

The Court finds that at the time of the accident, Mr. and Mrs. Schlacter had expressly prohibited Jay Gallihugh from allowing others to operate the Nissan. Mr. Schlacter drove home this point when he remarked, "no one drives his car - period." He stated that he overheard his wife likewise tell her son that no one else was to drive the vehicle. Absent an emergency, "coverage under the omnibus clause [does] not extend beyond the first permittee when the named insured has expressly prohibited operation of the vehicle by another." State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. v. Geico Indemnity, 241 Va. 326, 330 (1991). The owners emphatically emphasized that Jay was not to permit anyone else to operate the vehicle. No emergency is present in this case.

Accordingly, the Court finds that Nationwide does not provide liability coverage with reference to the claim of compensatory damages of Ms. Harlow arising out of the accident of March 13, 1998.

Mr. Riggenbach may draw a Final Decree consistent with this opinion to which counsel may note their exception.

Let the Clerk forward a copy of this Memorandum Opinion to all counsel of record.

ENTERED this 31^st day of January 2003.

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Judge