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King-Jennings v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company12/29/1999
Grafton
The plaintiff, Darlene King-Jennings, appeals an order of the Superior Court (Smith, J.) denying coverage under a workers' compensation and employer liability insurance policy issued by the defendant, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty Mutual). We affirm.
The plaintiff's husband (decedent) was a sole proprietor operating under the business name of Jennings Property Management (business). Founded in 1988, the business provided property maintenance and landscaping services to real property owners in and around Campton. The decedent hired an employee in 1994 and obtained workers' compensation and employer liability insurance coverage from Liberty Mutual. The policy was effective May 16, 1994, the date the employee began work. Although the employee was scheduled to work from May until August, he left his job on July 12. On July 18, the decedent was accidentally electrocuted at work.
The plaintiff filed a claim for workers' compensation, asserting coverage in favor of the business, which Liberty Mutual denied on the ground that the policy provided no coverage for the owner. The plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment that the policy provided coverage for the fatal work-related injury of the decedent as an employee of his sole proprietorship. After a bench trial in December 1997, the trial court entered judgment for Liberty Mutual. This appeal followed.
On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in: (1) failing to find that the policy unambiguously provided personal coverage to the decedent; (2) excluding evidence to aid in determining whether the policy is ambiguous; and (3) failing to shift the burden of proof to Liberty Mutual under RSA 491:22-a (1997).
We first address the plaintiff's argument that the policy unambiguously provided coverage to the decedent. The plaintiff contends that the policy provided coverage to "an insured" and that because the decedent was "an insured" under the policy, he should have been afforded benefits.
"Interpretation of a contract, including whether a contract term or clause is ambiguous, is ultimately a question of law for this court to decide." Shaheen, Cappiello, Stein & Gordon v. Home Ins. Co., 143 N.H. 35, 39, 719 A.2d 562, 565 (1998) (quotation omitted). Taking the plain and ordinary meaning of the policy's words in context, "we construe the terms of the policy as would a reasonable person in the position of the insured based on more than a casual reading of the policy as a whole." Deyette v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 142 N.H. 560, 561, 703 A.2d 661, 662 (1997) (quotation omitted).
Under the heading of "Who Is Insured," the policy states that " ou are insured if you are an employer named in item 1 of the Information Page." Item 1 on the Information Page in turn names Jennings Property Management, which is therefore the employer insured under the policy. Merely being an insured under a workers' compensation policy, however, does not entitle an employer to workers' compensation benefits. The workers' compensation statute imposes liability upon the employer for the injuries suffered by an employee during the course of employment. See Carbonneau v. Company, 96 N.H. 240, 244, 73 A.2d 802, 806 (1950). An employer obtains workers' compensation insurance, thereby becoming insured under the policy, in order to avoid personal liability for workers' compensation benefits that would be due to an employee who suffers a work-related injury. See RSA 281-A:5 (1999). This is clear under the policy's coverage provision, which states that " e will pay promptly when due the benefits required of [the insured employer] by the workers compensation law." (Emphasis added).
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