Carriers Insurance Company v. American Policyholders' Insurance Company
Supreme Court of Maine
404 A.2d 216 (1979)
Under a vehicle-rental arrangement, Merrill's Rental Service insured its vehicles through Carriers Insurance Company (Carriers) (plaintiff) with high policy limits, while Cummings Bros., the renting company, separately carried a $250,000 policy through American Policyholders' Insurance Company (APIC) (defendant); after a fatal accident involving a Cummings employee driving a Merrill's vehicle, Carriers settled resulting wrongful-death and property-damage claims and sought contribution from APIC, which refused. Both policies contained "other insurance" clauses declaring themselves excess if another valid policy existed, with neither policy specifying which was actually primary; the trial court disregarded both conflicting clauses and split the judgment, and APIC appealed.
Whether, where two different insurance policies issued by two different insurers have dueling other-insurance clauses that would, if read together, deny coverage to the insured, the insurers should bear the loss together.