Fed Court Says Non-Ohio Carriers Not Bound by Scott-Pontzer

A federal court has ruled that insurance carriers not domiciled in Ohio are not bound by a state Supreme Court decision which held that corporate uninsured motorist policies extend to employees and their private vehicles.

The Ohio Supreme Court had interpreted the term “you” in the standard corporate uninsured motorist policy to apply to all of a corporation’s employees in the Scott-Pontzer case.

The district court ruling in Delphi Automotive Systems v. Harry Slaughter held that this interpretation would be limited to carriers based in Ohio.