No coverage for an ATV accident that occurred on a public road that was not part of the “insured location” under the policy

In this declaratory judgment action, the issue was whether an ATV accident occurred on an insured location. If it did, then there was coverage for the accident. If it did not, then there was no coverage for the accident. The accident occurred on Lake Spangenberg Road when plaintiff Catania was driving an ATV, owned by the O’Briens’ son, and hit loose gravel, causing the ATV to slide and strike a tree and telephone pole. The O’Briens’ homeowners policy was issued by defendant Ohio Casualty, which took the position that the accident did not occur on an insured location. The O’Briens’ son had only driven the ATV on Lake Spangenberg Road once or twice, and the O’Briens had never been on nor resided on the property where the ATV struck the tree. The subject road was maintained by Jefferson Township. The plaintiffs argued that their frequent use of the road to enter and exit their property constituted a use in connection with their premises. However, they admittedly had never been to the precise location where the ATV accident occurred. Thus, the court declared that the location of the ATV accident did not meet the policy definition of an “insured location” and, therefore, there was no coverage.

_{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2015}

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