In the State of Tennessee<\/strong>, every person who operates a motor vehicle must have that automobile insured <\/strong>with at least liability insurance coverage<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Additionally, Tennessee law requires<\/strong> that every liability insurance policy issued in this State include Uninsured Motorists coverage<\/strong>.\u00a0 This valuable coverage is intended to be available to an insured person<\/strong> if that person is involved in an automobile accident<\/strong> due to the fault of another driver<\/strong> and the other driver’s vehicle is not insured<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In a recent decision<\/a> of the Tennessee Court of Appeals<\/strong>, the Court held that a Shelter Insurance Company’s insurance policy properly excluded<\/strong> from the Uninsured Motorists coverage a guest passenger<\/strong> in the insured vehicle.\u00a0 According to the Court’s decision, the Plaintiff was a guest (unrelated) passenger in an automobile which was insured by Shelter Insurance.\u00a0 The insured vehicle was struck by an uninsured motorist<\/strong> in another vehicle.\u00a0 The guest passenger was injured<\/strong>, and sued for coverage under the Shelter uninsured motorists coverage.<\/p>\n On appeal the Court determined and held that the term “insured<\/strong>” as set forth in the Shelter insurance policy, did not include a non-related “guest” passenger<\/strong> in the insured vehicle.\u00a0 According to the Court the insurance policy meets the statutory requirement which requires the uninsured motorists coverage to be afforded to those persons defined as an “insured” under the policy.<\/p>\n The Court’s decision only refers to one other Court of Appeals decision which also involved Shelter Insurance Company.\u00a0 Thus, it is not clear from the Court’s decision if any other insurance company’s policies are written the same way as Shelter’s.\u00a0 Insurance policies are contracts<\/a><\/strong> which ought to be reviewed with an attorney<\/a> so that you understand your legal rights.<\/p>\n If you or a loved one is injured in automobile accident be sure to contact a personal injury attorney<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tennessee Allows for Exclusion of a “Guest Passenger”<\/h2>\n
Shelter Insurance May Be Only Company With this Type of Policy<\/h3>\n