MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT FINDS THAT HOMEOWNER POLICY’S MOTOR VEHICLE EXCLUSION APPLIED TO A CLAIM OF DELAY AND RENDERING AID TO AN ACCIDENT VICTIM AFTER A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT OCCURRED

In Champ v. Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company, 2021 WL 790679 (Miss. March 2, 2021), a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle stated that she did not know that her vehicle hit something until she reported the incident to her father, who, in turn, returned with the daughter to the scene of the accident and found the injured pedestrian. At that point the daughter and father immediately called 911 from the collision site. The injured passenger was airlifted to the hospital. The pedestrian sued the daughter driver and the parents, as well as the parents’ homeowners insurance company, Mississippi Farm Bureau. The pedestrian alleged a claim of negligent operation against the driver, negligent entrustment against the parents, and negligent delay in rendering aid against the parents. The trial court held that the pedestrian’s asserted claims were not covered by the homeowners policy because the policy contained a motor vehicle exclusion. The motor vehicle exclusion excluded liability arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the trial court ruling. In doing so, the Court rejected the pedestrian’s argument that the delay in rendering aid was unrelated to the use or operation of the vehicle and that the delay proximately caused injury. The Court found that the pedestrian’s injuries would not have occurred but for the use or operation of the motor vehicle and that the use of the vehicle proximately caused the injuries.