Kramer v. Nationwide Insurance (majority)
Annotate this Case
The case involves a dispute between Stewart Kramer and Valerie Concinello (Parents) and Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company (Nationwide) over the interpretation of their homeowners insurance policy. The dispute arose after the fatal drug overdose of Michael T. Murray, Jr. (Decedent) at Parents' home. The administrator of Decedent's estate sued Parents and their son, Adam Kramer, for wrongful death and survival actions. Parents sought coverage under their insurance policy with Nationwide, but Nationwide denied coverage based on a controlled substance exclusion in the policy. Parents then filed a declaratory judgment action, and the trial court ordered Nationwide to defend Parents.
The Superior Court affirmed the trial court's decision but based its ruling on a different interpretation of the policy. The Superior Court concluded that the policy's controlled substance exclusion applied to the bodily injury claims in the underlying lawsuit but did not apply to emotional distress damages claimed in the wrongful death action.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Superior Court's decision. The Supreme Court held that the Superior Court's interpretation that Nationwide was potentially required to pay out for emotional and mental distress damages was contrary to the unambiguous provisions of the policy and erroneous as a matter of law. The Supreme Court concluded that Nationwide had no duty to defend the underlying lawsuit because emotional and mental distress damages in the wrongful death claims were not bodily injuries under the policy.
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.