Background
On October 12, 2019, Gus Curcio, Sr., Julia Kish, and others were passengers in a rented vehicle driven by Keith Toni in Boca Raton, Florida when the vehicle was rear-ended by an underinsured motorist. The plaintiffs sustained injuries and sought uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits under two insurance policies: one issued by Progressive Direct to Toni and another issued by Ohio Security to Success, Inc., a corporation of which Curcio, Sr. was president.
Both insurers denied coverage. The plaintiffs filed suit in February 2021. The trial court bifurcated the coverage issue from liability and damages. Following a bench trial, the court ruled against the plaintiffs on all counts, concluding they were not “insureds” entitled to UIM coverage under either policy. The plaintiffs appealed.
The Court’s Holding
The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment as to the Progressive policy but affirmed as to the Ohio Security policy. Regarding Progressive: Although the policy’s UIM section defined “insured persons” narrowly and the plaintiffs did not fall within that definition, they were nonetheless entitled to coverage by operation of Connecticut law. Connecticut General Statutes § 38a-336(a)(1)(A) and the implementing regulation § 38a-334-6(a) mandate that UIM coverage “shall insure the occupants of every motor vehicle to which the bodily injury liability coverage applies.” The Progressive policy extended bodily injury liability coverage to Toni’s rented vehicle. Therefore, as occupants of that vehicle at the time of injury, the plaintiffs became protected persons entitled to UIM benefits by statutory mandate, regardless of the policy’s narrower contractual definitions.
Regarding Ohio Security: The court affirmed the denial of benefits. The uninsured motorist endorsement was clear and unambiguous. Because Success, Inc. was a corporation (not an individual), the endorsement’s definition of “insured” applied only to occupants of “covered autos” or temporary substitutes. Toni’s rented vehicle was neither a covered auto under the policy nor was it rented to replace a covered vehicle. The plaintiffs did not satisfy the endorsement’s requirements, and no statutory override applied because the vehicle did not have the requisite bodily injury liability coverage under the Ohio Security policy.
Key Takeaways
- Occupants of a vehicle receive statutory UIM coverage even if they do not qualify as “insureds” under the policy’s contractual definitions, provided the vehicle has bodily injury liability coverage under the policy.
- Connecticut’s insurance statutes and regulations override narrower policy language; insurers cannot use restrictive definitions to defeat statutorily mandated occupant protection.
- The scope of UIM coverage depends on whether the vehicle itself has liability coverage, not on the occupant’s status in the policy hierarchy.
- Corporate-named insureds’ policies are subject to the same occupant-protection mandates as individual-named insureds’ policies, but only when the statutory trigger (liability coverage on the vehicle) is present.
Why It Matters
This decision clarifies that Connecticut’s strong public policy favoring uninsured motorist protection trumps policy contract language when the statutory prerequisites are met. Insurers in Connecticut cannot narrow occupant coverage below what the state mandates, even through clear and unambiguous policy definitions. For passengers in vehicles with liability coverage, protection is automatic—a significant safety net for injured occupants who might otherwise fall through definitional gaps in insurance contracts.
The ruling also teaches the limits of that protection: UIM coverage remains tied to the vehicle’s liability coverage status under the specific policy in question. Occupants receive no benefit from a corporate-named policy lacking liability coverage on the vehicle, illustrating that statutory mandate requires a qualifying trigger, not unlimited protection. Practitioners should understand that policy language defining “insured” is no barrier to covering vehicle occupants when statutory requirements are met.