C8-01-18, Brookdale Pontiac-GMC, Appellant, vs. Federated Insurance, Respondent. June 5, 2001
Case Date: 06/26/2001
Court: Court of Appeals
Docket No: C8-01-18
|
STATE OF MINNESOTA Brookdale Pontiac-GMC, Federated Insurance, Filed June 12, 2001
Mark D. Luther, Firstar Bank Building, 8800 Highway 7, Suite 408, St. Louis Park, MN 55426 (for appellant) Gary Hoch, Richard L. Pemberton, Jr., Erica Gutmann Strohl, Meagher & Greer, P.L.L.P., 4200 Multifoods Tower, Minneapolis, MN 55402 (for respondent) Considered and decided by Toussaint, Chief Judge, Kalitowski, Judge, and Lindberg, Judge. S Y L L A B U S 1. Insurance-coverage issues are questions of law for the court and thus, review on appeal is de novo. 2. A contract term will be read to have its natural and most obvious meaning, and a tenet of plain meaning is that ordinary rules of grammar apply. 3. An insured is not entitled to recover attorney fees incurred in maintaining or defending an action for declaratory judgment to determine the question of insurance coverage unless the insurer has breached the insurance contract. O P I N I O N LINDBERG, Judge An individual purchased an automobile from appellant dealer by a contract co-signed with a signature that was later determined to be forged. The contract had been financed by a bank. When the buyer defaulted, the bank reassigned the contract to appellant pursuant to a master-dealer agreement, and appellant paid the balance due. Appellant then sought to recover from respondent insurance company under forgery provisions. The district court determined that coverage was excluded and granted summary judgment in respondent |