Nationwide Mutual Insurance v. Smelser

Under the provisions of Rule 5:42, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit certified to this Court a question of Virginia insurance law. The certified question accepted by this Court asks whether a pedestrian, who was injured when her purse was “snatched” by an unidentified passenger in a moving vehicle, sustained injuries arising “out of the use of an uninsured motor vehicle for purposes of uninsured motorist provisions in [a certain insurance] policy.” The facts as stated in the certification order are set forth below.

On March 27, 1999, Mary B. Smelser (Mrs. Smelser), then…