USAA County Mutual Insurance Company v. Cook

241 S.W.3d 93 (2007)

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USAA County Mutual Insurance Company v. Cook

Texas Court of Appeals
241 S.W.3d 93 (2007)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

Hayden Cook (plaintiff) parked his Volkswagen Jetta in a closely confined parking lot at a restaurant. Cook parallel parked immediately behind a large SUV—about two feet from its bumper. Another car was parked directly in front of the SUV. When Cook returned, the SUV was gone and the Jetta had been pushed back about 15 feet, its parking brake still set. The front grill was damaged, the hood bent up, and a black mark on the top of the bumper indicated a taller vehicle had backed into it. Cook had auto insurance with USAA County Mutual Insurance Company (defendant), but he had dropped collision coverage and kept only liability and comprehensive coverage for other types of losses. The policy specifically covered losses from vandalism as non-collision losses. Cook filed an insurance claim, asserting vandalism had caused the damage. USAA denied coverage, arguing a collision had caused the damage. Cook sued and testified that an SUV had indeed collided with his car, but in a willful, intentional way more like vandalism than an accidental collision, as the Jetta had been pushed 15 feet. The jury found USAA had breached the insurance policy, and the court entered judgment against USAA for the damage to the car. USAA appealed, arguing the court erred in denying a directed verdict or judgment notwithstanding the verdict because the policy did not cover collision losses.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Jennings, J.)

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