Metropolitan Property & Cas. Ins. Co. v. McCall

These cases arose as a result of a traffic accident between Jason McCall and Tonya Smallwood. The car Jason was driving was owned by Howard and Marcia McCall, Jason’s father and stepmother. They often loaned the car to Lacey Bush, Jason’s girlfriend and the mother of his two children, when she needed it for family purposes. The sole issue before us on appeal is whether Howard and Marcia McCall gave Jason permission to drive the car. Because the only evidence in the record is that Jason did not have permission to drive the car, we reverse.1 After the accident, Smallwood and the passengers in her vehicle filed suit against Jason McCall and Howard and Marcia McCall. Metropolitan, Howard and Marcia McCall’s insurer, filed a declaratory judgment action, seeking a ruling on whether it had a duty to defend the lawsuit.

In Case Number A03A0062, Metropolitan appeals the denial of its motion for summary judgment, arguing the trial court erred in holding that there was an issue of fact as to whether Jason was an insured under the policy. In Case Number A03A0063, Howard and Marcia McCall appeal the trial court’s denial of their motion for summary judgment on Tonya Smallwood’s claim of negligent entrustment. For the following reasons, we reverse in both cases.