Allison Chase, etc. v. Horace Mann Insurance Company

158 So. 3d 514, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 97, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 282, 2015 WL 686093
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedFebruary 19, 2015
DocketSC13-2013
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 158 So. 3d 514 (Allison Chase, etc. v. Horace Mann Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allison Chase, etc. v. Horace Mann Insurance Company, 158 So. 3d 514, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 97, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 282, 2015 WL 686093 (Fla. 2015).

Opinions

QUINCE, J.

Allison Chase seeks review of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Horace Mann Insurance Co. v. Chase, 121 So.3d 1191 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), on the ground that it expressly and directly conflicts with the Second District’s decision in Creighton v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Insurance Co., 696 So.2d 1305 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997), on the issue of whether removing the sole named insured from an auto insurance policy, and listing a separate individual as the named insured on that policy for the first time, creates a new policy for purposes of section 627.727, Florida Statutes (2008). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

For the reasons stated below, we quash the decision of the First District, approve the decision of the Second District in Creighton, and find that when Allison Chase became the named insured on her auto insurance policy, Horace Mann was required to advise her of her right to uninsured motorist (UM) benefits equal to her liability limits and to obtain a written waiver of those benefits before reducing them under section 627.727, Florida Statutes (2008).

STATEMENT OF THE CASE & FACTS

The pertinent facts of this case are not in dispute:

In 2001, Richard Chase obtained policy number 09-65434800 from Defendant Horace Mann. The insured vehicle was a 1992 Chevrolet Geo and the policy provided bodily injury liability limits of $100,000/$300,000. Richard Chase, who was the only named insured and the titled owner of the insured vehicle, signed a form in which he selected reduced uninsured motorist limits of $25, 000/$50,000. His daughter, Allison Chase, was listed as a “driver” but was not a named insured on the policy and thus had no right to select reduced uninsured motorist limits.
Policy number 09-65434800 remained in effect with Richard Chase as the sole named insured until January 27, 2004. At that time, Horace Mann removed [516]*516Richard Chase as the sole named insured on the policy, made Allison Chase the sole named insured, and changed the insured vehicle to a 1997 Ford Escort ST that had been acquired by Allison three days earlier on January 24, 2004 and was titled in only her name. At the same time, Horace Mann issued a new policy, Policy Number 09-69095420, with Richard Chase as the sole named insured, insuring a 2004 Jeep that was owned by Richard.
Horace Mann’s issuance of a new policy to a person (Richard Chase) who was already the named insured on an existing policy, while revising the existing policy to completely change the named insured, as well as the insured vehicle, meant that Richard Chase, who had already selected lower uninsured motorist limits for the policy, was presented with another written rejection form while Allison Chase, who had never previously had the opportunity or right to select lower UM limits, was not provided the opportunity to reject the coverage or select lower limits. Horace Mann’s corporate representative, Theresa Besh-ears, testified that Horace Mann could have continued Richard Chase’s existing policy and issued a new policy to Allison Chase. Ms. Beshears testified that if a new policy had been issued to Allison Chase, Ms. Chase would have had to sign a rejection form in order to select lower limits.
In August of 2005, approximately 18 months after Horace Mann issued the policy to Allison Chase, Allison moved out of her father’s house and Richard Chase was removed as a listed driver on the policy. On February 10, 2007, the insured vehicle was changed from the 1997 Ford Escort to a 2004 Jeep Wrangler. On June 15, 2007, Allison Chase moved back in with her father and added Richard L. Chase as a listed driver on her policy, number 09-65484800. The crash that killed Richard Chase and injured Allison Chase occurred exactly one month later on July 15, 2007. At no time did Allison Chase rejéct unin.sured/underinsured motorist coverage in writing or select lower limits.

Order on Cross Motions for Partial Summary Judgment Concerning Entitlement to, and Amount of, UM Insurance Coverage, Entitlement to Attorney’s Fees and .Costs, and Lifting Discovery Stay at 2-8, Chase v. Horace Mann Ins. Co., No. 16-2008-CA-006534-XXXX-MA (Fla. 4th Cir. Ct. Sept. 28, 2010). Allison Chase asserted that she, individually and as personal representative of her father’s estate, was entitled to UM coverage in the amount equal to the policy’s bodily injury limits because she never selected lower UM coverage in writing as required by section 627.727, Florida Statutes (2008). Id.

Trial Court Order

On September 28, 2010, the trial court issued its order. Id. at 4. In the order, the trial court recalled that at the hearing on the motions for summary judgment, “Horace Mann relied principally on State Farm [Mutual] Auto[mobile] Insurance Co. v. Shaw, 967 So.2d 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007), and [Allison Chase] relied principally on Creighton v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Co., 696 So.2d 1305 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997).” Id. Relying on its recitation of the “undisputed material facts,” the trial court determined that Shaw was not dispositive and “[did] not establish Horace Mann’s motion for summary judgment.” Id. After determining that Creighton “controls the insurance coverage question!,]” the trial court granted Allison Chase’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on Entitlement to, and Amount of, UM coverage. Id. Among other relief, the court ruled that both Allison Chase and her deceased father’s estate were entitled to $100,000 of [517]*517insurance coverage under Allison Chase’s policy. Id.

First District’s Decision

On appeal to the First District Court of Appeal, Horace Mann argued that Richard Chase’s waiver was binding on Richard Chase’s estate, as well as Allison Chase, both individually and as personal representative of Richard Chase’s estate. Horace Mann Ins., 121 So.3d at 1192.

The district court determined that “[b]e-cause no policy limits were changed, the policy was renewed, extended, changed, superseded, or replaced, and [Richard] Chase’s waiver of higher UM coverage bound [Allison] Chase individually and as personal representative of [Richard] Chase’s estate.” Id. at 1194 (citing Shaw, 967 So.2d at 1015; Atlanta Cas. Co. v. Evans, 668 So.2d 287, 289 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)). Relying on its previous decision in Travelers Commercial Insurance Co. v. Harrington, 86 So.3d 1274, 1277 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (holding that under § 627.727(9), unlike subsection (1), the waiver must be personally made by the insured who claims UM benefits), quashed, 154 So.3d 1106, 39 Fla. L. Weekly S647, 2014 WL 5365846 (Fla. Oct. 23, 2014), the district court also determined that the UM stacking waiver applied to Richard Chase individually and to Allison Chase as personal representative of Richard Chase’s estate, but not to Allison Chase individually because she did not sign the UM stacking waiver as an insured. Id. Thus, the district court reversed all of the trial court findings, except that it affirmed the trial court’s finding that Allison Chase, individually, was entitled to stacked coverage. Id.

ANALYSIS

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Bluebook (online)
158 So. 3d 514, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 97, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 282, 2015 WL 686093, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allison-chase-etc-v-horace-mann-insurance-company-fla-2015.