Some of the most significant, but least understood, provisions in automobile insurance policies are those that deal with non-owned autos and the requirement that such vehicles not be "furnished or available for the regular use of" the named insured or relative residing in the insured's household. Whether, as in most cases, the term appears in the context of an exception to the grant of coverage for non-owned autos,1 or, as in other cases, it appears in the context of an exclusion from coverage,2 in determining whether a vehicle other than the insured vehicle was "furnished or available for regular use," "there is no hard and fast rule by which to resolve the question, each case being dependent on its own facts and circumstances." Simon v. Lumbermens Mutual Cas., 107 Misc.2d 816 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Co. 1981). See also, New York Central Mut. Fire Ins. v. Jennings, 195 AD2d 541 (2d Dept. 1993); Egle v. USAA, 158 AD2d 661 (2d Dept. 1990).
The purpose of a provision affording coverage for a non-owned vehicle not for the regular use of an insured is "to provide protection to the insured for the occasional or infrequent use of a vehicle not owned by him or her and is not intended as a substitute for insurance on vehicles furnished for the insured's regular use." Elrac v. GE Capital Ins., 57 AD3d 833, 835 (2d Dept. 2008).3 The exception or exclusion from coverage for an insured or resident relative when using a non-owned automobile that was furnished or available for regular use was designed to protect the company from being subjected 'to greatly added risk without the payment of additional premiums (Sperling v. Great Am. Indem., 7 NY2d 442, 448, quoting Vern v. Merchants Mut. Cas., 21 Misc.2d 51, 52)." Elrac v. GE Capital Ins., supra.
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