Toni v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co.

Syllabus

The plaintiffs appealed from the trial court's judgment for the defendant insurers, P Co. and O Co., on the plaintiffs' action seeking to recover unin- sured motorist coverage pursuant to automobile insurance policies issued by the defendants. The plaintiffs sustained injuries when the vehicle in which they were passengers, a rented vehicle driven by T, was rear-ended by a motor vehicle operated by an underinsured motorist. T was the named insured on the policy issued by P Co., and the named insured on the policy issued by O Co. was S Co., a company of which the plaintiff C was president. The plaintiffs claimed that the court improperly concluded that they were not entitled to coverage under either policy. Held: The trial court improperly concluded that the plaintiffs were not insureds entitled to uninsured motorist coverage pursuant to the insurance policy issued by P Co., as, although pursuant to the clear and unambiguous terms of the P Co. policy they were not insured persons for purposes of uninsured motorist coverage, they were occupants of a motor vehicle to which the bodily injury liability coverage of the P Co. policy applied, namely, the motor vehicle rented by T, such that the plaintiffs were entitled to coverage pursu- ant to statute (§ 38a-336 (a) (1) (A)) and the corresponding state regulation (§ 38a-334-6 (a)). The trial court properly concluded that the plaintiffs were not insureds entitled to uninsured motorist coverage pursuant to the insurance policy issued by O Co., as the uninsured motorist endorsement in the policy was clear and unambiguous in defining an insured when the named insured was a corporation, and the plaintiffs did not qualify as insureds because T's rented motor vehicle was not a covered auto under the policy issued to S Co., nor was it rented to replace any motor vehicles listed in the policy. Argued January 15—officially released April 14, 2026