Briones v. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co

In Briones v. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co., 790 S.W.2d 70, 74 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1990, writ denied), the court considered whether the definitional exclusion was a valid restriction on the insurer's obligation to pay UM/UIM benefits and, on the facts presented therein, concluded that it was not. Id. However, a very narrow set of facts was presented in Briones. There, Briones was injured while riding in an uninsured vehicle furnished by his employer and driven by an uninsured co-worker. Id. at 71. When Briones sought to recover under the UM/UIM clause of his own automobile policy, State Farm refused coverage on the basis of the definitional exclusion because the vehicle in which Briones was injured was "furnished for" his "regular use." Id. In refusing to uphold the definitional exclusion, the court reasoned that applying the exclusion on the facts therein totally deprived the insured of the protection required by the UM/UIM statute. Id. at 74.