Apodaca v. Allstate Ins. Co
Annotate this Case
In June 2002, Codiejo Apodaca and her stepsister (the Insureds) were injured in an automobile accident. At the time of the accident, the Insureds were covered as resident relatives under an auto policy and a personal umbrella policy both issued by Respondent Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate). The policy included uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in addition to bodily injury coverage. The umbrella policy provided excess liability for "occurrences" arising out of, among other things, "occupancy of a land vehicle by an insured for personal transportation." Allstate did not offer separate UM/UIM coverage in connection with the umbrella policy. The Insureds brought suit against Allstate for reformation of the umbrella policy to include UM/UIM coverage. In their view, Colorado law required Allstate to offer UM/UIM coverage in connection with the umbrella policy because the policy included automobile liability coverage. As such, the Insureds contended that UM/UIM coverage should have been incorporated into the umbrella policy as a matter of law. The trial court granted Allstate's motion to dismiss the suit, finding that only liability policies expressly linked to a specific, licensed Colorado vehicle were required to include mandatory UM/UIM insurance. The appellate court affirmed the trial court, and on appeal, the Insureds argued that both the trial and appellate courts misread both the policy and Colorado law. Upon review, the Supreme Court held that an umbrella policy is not an "automobile liability or motor vehicle liability policy" as specified by Colorado law. Therefore, the Court affirmed the appellate court's decision.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.