Question: Thirteen-year-old Teasha Wilkerson was injured in an accident while a passenger in a pickup. State Farm Insurance had issued a liability policy covering the pickup to Catherine Bordelon. Bordelon held record title to the pickup but had entered into an agreement with Debra Hewitt, Teasha's mother.
The agreement simply stated Bordelon did "lease purchase one Isuzu Hombre pickup to Debra S. Hewitt" for a set monthly payment for 60 months. Hewitt took immediate possession of the pickup and treated it as her own. She sued State Farm on behalf of Teasha arguing that the arrangement was a contract to sell so State Farm's insurance policy still applied to the pickup. Was this a sale or a contract to sell?