Artisan and Trucker Casualty Co. v. The Burlington Ins. Co.

In action by plaintiff-insurance company seeking declaration that it owed no duty to defendant-insured in underlying personal injury action, where underlying plaintiff incurred injuries while others were operating power crane that was permanently attached to truck that was insured by plaintiff, as well as declaration that defendant-insurance company owed insured duty to defend in underlying lawsuit. While Dist Ct. found that declaration page in plaintiff’s policy conflicted with policy’s operation exclusion, such that said conflict created ambiguity that required plaintiff to defend insured in underlying personal injury action, Ct. of Appeals found that there was no ambiguity, where there was no provision in declarations page indicating that plaintiff would cover bodily injuries arising out of operation of crane, and operations exclusion clearly indicated that plaintiff would not cover instant crane operation incident. As such, Ct. of Appeals reversed Dist. Ct. finding that plaintiff’s policy required plaintiff to defend underlying personal injury lawsuit.