United Ser. Auto. Ass'n. v. Turck

In United Ser. Auto. Ass'n. v. Turck, 156 N.J. 480, 721 A.2d 1 (1998), an FBI agent was shot in the wrist by a passenger in a vehicle he had just stopped. The vehicle fled the scene and no suspects were apprehended. It was later determined that the vehicle was owned by an insured motorist. Turck sought recovery under the UM provisions of his policy, which had been issued by United Services Automobile Association (USAA). The UM endorsement provided for arbitration if the insurer and a "covered person" did not agree whether that person was "legally entitled to recover damages under this endorsement." Id. at 482, 721 A.2d 1. USAA denied coverage on Turck's claim by contending that his injury was not caused by an accident, but rather by the intentional firing of a handgun. Turck demanded arbitration. USAA then instituted a declaratory judgment action seeking to preclude arbitration on the basis that UM coverage issues are not arbitrable. The Supreme Court contrasted the broad language contained in the USAA endorsement which mandated arbitration in the event of a dispute over whether the insured "is legally entitled to recover damages under this endorsement" and the more restrictive language contained in the standard policy, which limits arbitration to disputes over whether "a person making a claim . . . is legally entitled to recover damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured . . . vehicle." Id. at 489-90, 721 A.2d 1. Guided by the principles that ambiguities in insurance contracts generally should be resolved against the insurer and "the undesirability of bifurcating UM claims between judicial resolution and arbitration proceedings," the Court determined that given the imprecise scope of the arbitration clause, the question whether Turck's injury was caused by an accident and was otherwise compensable was arbitrable. Id. at 491-93, 721 A.2d 1.