A recent appellate court decision rejected insurance coverage claims by parents who were sued for negligent supervision, negligent entrustment and liability under O.R.C. § 3109.10. Offhaus v. Guthrie (2000), 140 Ohio App. 3d 90. The estate for the murdered teen sued her killer and his parents in a civil suit for damages. The claims against the parent were for negligence in supervision of their child, negligence in entrusting a .357 magnum to their son, and for statutory parental liability under O.R.C. § 3109.10.

The parents sought defense and coverage from their homeowners policy with Cincinnati Insurance Company. Cincinnati Insurance Company filed a declaratory judgment action claiming no coverage existed as the negligence was part of the intentional act of murder. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment.

On Appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeals for Ohio agreed with Cincinnati Insurance Company and the trial court. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment that no coverage existed for the claims of negligent entrustment or negligent supervision. The court held that "negligent supervision and negligent entrustment are not "occurrences" separate and apart from the underlying intentional tort but are derivative claims." Offhaus, 140 Ohio App. 3d at 94. Under this court's ruling, the negligence of the parents cannot be separated from the intentional acts of the minor child. Thus, no coverage to pay the loss or to defend the parents existed.

For a subrogated carrier, suing the parents on theories of negligent supervision or entrustment often has lead to insurance coverage when the actual act was intentional. This appeals court ruled that insurance coverage does not exist for these negligence claims. Almost always, the ability to actually recover on intentional tort claims likely will be reduced if there is no coverage for the parents. Any subsequent cases can possibly be distinguished depending on the language employed in the parent’s homeowners policy. This potential coverage for the parents likely will not surface until suit is filed on the subrogation claims.