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So as long as the Accident involved a Motor Vehicle, No-Fault applies, right?

Posted by: euser
December 22, 2006
Topic: Minnesota No-Fault

Well, it depends. A major requirement of a no-fault claim is that the accident must arise in the "maintenance or use of a motor vehicle." As Minn. Stat. § 65B.43, Subd. 3 explains,

"Maintenance or use of a motor vehicle" means maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as a vehicle, including, incident to its maintenance or use as a vehicle, occupying, entering into, and alighting from it. Maintenance or use of a motor vehicle does not include

(1) conduct within the course of a business of repairing, servicing, or otherwise maintaining motor vehicles unless the conduct occurs off the business premises, or

(2) conduct in the course of loading and unloading the vehicle unless the conduct occurs while occupying, entering into or alighting from it.

Therefore, if the injury does not arise out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle, there is no coverage under the no-fault law. In the influential case of Continental Western Ins. Co. v. Klug, 415 N.W.2d 876, 878 (Minn. 1987), the Minnesota Supreme Court adopted a three-part test to determine whether an injury arises out of the "maintenance or use of a motor vehicle. Although each case is dependent upon its facts, the court will look at:

(1) the extent of causation between the automobile and the injury,

(2) if the requisite degree of causation exists, whether an act of independent significance occurred that breaks the causal link between "use" of the vehicle and the injuries inflicted, and

(3) if causation exists and there is no intervening act of independent significance, the type of "use"of the automobile involved

Minnesota courts have decided upon many different claims regarding the "maintenance or use of a motor vehicle," ranging from firearm discharges, intentional injuries, slip and falls, work-related injuries, parked vehicles, carbon monoxide poisoning, and many others. Since these issues are highly factual, an experienced personal injury attorney should be consulted.