Common Sense Prevails Over Dictionary Definitions: Rolling Trash Bins Are Not ‘Vehicles' Judge Explains

A federal judge recently refused an insured's attempt to escape a policy exclusion by contending that a large "storage bin" on wheels was a "vehicle" under an exception to the exclusion, which prohibited coverage for costs associated with gas system tests. In 1070 Park Ave. Corp. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., No. 17 CIV. 2474 (CM) (S.D.N.Y. June 19, 2018), appeal docketed No. 18-1961 (2d Cir. June 29, 2018), the judge ruled that the storage bin was not a "vehicle" as that term was used in the insurance policy at issue even though the wheeled bin technically fit several dictionary definitions of that term.

The insured, a high-end apartment building on New York City's Upper East Side, had to shut down its gas lines after a contractor moving a large, wheeled "storage bin" for discarded electronics accidentally bumped into one of the building's gas meters. The bump resulted in a gas leak that caused the utility company to turn off the gas to the entire building. The leaky