Taylor v. Allstate Ins. Co

In Taylor v. Allstate Ins. Co. (214 AD2d 610 [2d Dept 1995]), the Court faced a situation similar to the one at bar. Title to the vehicle was in the son's name but the registration was in the mother's name. The son obtained an auto loan and executed a retail installment contract and security agreement as buyer and the mother executed the agreement as "registrant." The mother had sole use and possession of the vehicle. The Court found: "In the case at bar the plaintiff mother had an insurable interest insofar as she was the sole possessor and user of the subject vehicle. In addition, the plaintiff [mother] was a signatory, as registered owner, on a security agreement and may be financially liable under the terms of the agreement supporting her claim that she has an insurable interest in the automobile." (Taylor, supra at 611.) Thus the Court found that being the sole possessor and user of the vehicle was sufficient to create an insurable interest.