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INSURANCE COVERAGE: Superior Court grants summary judgment for insurer, holding that pedestrian failed to report alleged hit-and-run accident to police

The plaintiff, a traffic officer, was injured while directing traffic when he fell while attempting to stop a driver.  After stopping the driver, he permitted the driver to leave and did not take any identifying information and did not file a police report.

The plaintiff later sought benefits under a policy through the defendant insurer that provided uninsured motorist coverage for losses caused by hit-and-run drivers.  The policy required that the insured report a hit-and-run accident to the police in order to receive those benefits.

The insurer denied coverage on the grounds that the insured failed to report the incident as required by the policy.  The plaintiff then brought suit against the insurer for uninsured motorist benefits, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and CUIPA and CUTPA violations.

The Court granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the plaintiff had not complied with the policy’s reporting requirement because his obligation was to report the incident and not merely to have a law enforcement officer (himself) become aware of the incident.

Klin v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., No. CV 17-6037503S (9/12/2018)