Heimerman v. Franklin Mut. Ins. Co

In Heimerman v. Franklin Mut. Ins. Co., No. 89-0495, 1989 WL 154479, 450 N.W.2d 255 (Wis. Ct. App. 1989) (Unpublished), a pickup truck owned by the insured was towing a bale thrower wagon when the truck and wagon were involved in a collision with another vehicle. The owner of the pickup truck had a farmowner's policy with an automobile exclusion similar to the one in this case. A hearing examiner (the insurer was undergoing liquidation) ruled there was no coverage, concluding "the accident resulted from the ownership and use of a motorized vehicle as defined by the policy and would not have occurred absent negligent operation of the motorized vehicle." Id. at 1. The appellate court affirmed and rejected the argument that the policy should be interpreted to provide coverage because it did not specifically exclude coverage for the towing of a farm implement: The policy excludes coverage for liability resulting from the use of a motorized vehicle. The accident occurred due to the use of a motorized vehicle which was towing a nonmotorized vehicle. The policy cannot be read to cover the towing of the baler wagon merely because the insurer did not list specifically the countless uses of a motorized vehicle. Id. at 2.