FOUNDERS INSURANCE COMPANY v. MUNOZ
FOUNDERS INSURANCE COMPANY v. MUNOZ
FOUNDERS INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant,
v.
ALBERT L. MUNOZ et al., Appellees.
SAFEWAY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant,
v.
FLAVIO FERNANDEZ et al., Appellees.
Docket Nos. 108605, 108612
Supreme Court of Illinois.
Opinion filed May 20, 2010.
OPINIONCHIEF JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
Justices Freeman, Thomas, Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.
In these consolidated appeals, we consider the validity of an automobile policy exclusion that precludes liability coverage when the person using the vehicle does not have a "reasonable belief" that he or she is "entitled" to do so. In each of the six underlying cases, the trial court ruled that the coverage exclusion was applicable to a driver who did not have a valid license. The appellate court, however, held that the coverage exclusion is ambiguous, and reversed the trial court's nocoverage ruling in five of the six cases. 389 Ill. App. 3d 744, 757 (2009). The appellate court affirmed the trial court's no-coverage ruling in the sixth case, but on different grounds. 389 Ill. App. 3d at 756-57.
