Section 5.9 the described auto . . .

• Library: Insurance Practice 2015

The “described auto,” “your insured auto,” or some similar term that is descriptive of the auto the policy was specifically written to cover is usually defined in the policy. In the Shelter policy, “[d]escribed auto means the vehicle described in the Declarations and includes a temporary substitute auto.” It is important to note that this policy, and many others, do not require that the “described auto” be owned by the named insured. This can lead to strange coverage issues as was the case in Country Mutual Insurance Co. v. Matney, 25 S.W.3d 651 (Mo. App. W.D. 2000). In that case, the insured sold his auto but did not terminate his policy, which remained in force at the time the purchaser had an accident in that auto. The purchaser was held to be an insured because she was operating the “described auto” with the permission of the policy’s named insured and, under the language of that policy (and the Shelter policy), she became an omnibus insured even though the named insured no longer owned...