Washington Court Rules in Single-Car, Underinsured Motorist Case

A Washington State couple has lost their appeal of a ruling that allowed Farmers Insurance to deny their uninsured motorist claim following a single-car accident, which they said was caused by another driver who disappeared.

The case involved an accident that Michael and his wife, Brenda, Osborne had on April 16, 2009. While driving on a lonely road in Skagit County, their Subaru went off the road. When the county sheriff arrived on the scene, they told him that they had been driven off the road by a car traveling in the opposite direction. The other car – referred to as the “phantom car” in the court decision – never stopped. Five days later, the Osbornes, who had injuries, filed an underinsured motorist claim with their insurer, Farmers Insurance Co. of Washington.

Farmers denied their claim on the grounds that there was no corroborating evidence of another driver, and their policy clearly stated that, in cases where there was no physical crash between the insured’s car and the other car, the “facts of the accident must also be verified by someone other than you or another person having an underinsured motorist claim from the same accident.”

The sheriff said in his report that he passed no car in the area prior to arriving on the scene, and that there were no skid marks on the road to indicate the Osbornes, or another driver, had swerved hard to avoid a collision. He noted that it was possible that Brenda Osborne simply kept driving straight when the road turned. He also noted that they seemed oddly calm and composed.

The Osbornes sued Farmers for denying their claim. They lost at the trial court level and now the Court of Appeals Division One of Washington has upheld that lower court decision.