Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company v. Quarrier

175 So. 2d 83, 1965 Fla. App. LEXIS 4157
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 29, 1965
DocketG-164
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 175 So. 2d 83 (Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company v. Quarrier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company v. Quarrier, 175 So. 2d 83, 1965 Fla. App. LEXIS 4157 (Fla. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

175 So.2d 83 (1965)

GRAIN DEALERS MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, a corporation, Appellant,
v.
Robert D. QUARRIER, Jr., Appellee.

No. G-164.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. First District.

April 29, 1965.
Rehearing Denied June 3, 1965.

*84 James E. Hertz, of Fisher & Hepner, Pensacola, for appellant.

Coe & Coe, Pensacola, for appellee.

STURGIS, Chief Judge.

The appellant-garnishee, Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company, seeks reversal of a summary judgment entered against it in proceedings ancillary to a negligence action brought by Robert D. Quarrier, Jr., against Andrew Busbee, Jr., appellant's insured, which resulted in a $25,254.85 judgment for Quarrier that was appealed to this court and affirmed February 11, 1965. See Busbee v. Quarrier, 172 So.2d 17 (Fla. App. 1965). The style of the instant cause, as it appears in the judgment appealed and other pertinent pleadings, including appellant's answer to the writ of garnishment issued in said cause, shows the parties as "Robert D. Quarrier, Jr., plaintiff, vs. Andrew Busbee, Jr., defendant, and Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company, a corporation, garnishee." We have no difficulty, therefore, in taking judicial notice that the proceeding in garnishment is related to and derived from the negligence action.

We presently consider appellee's motion to quash this appeal on the ground that it is frivolous and taken only for the purpose of delay, and to invoke against appellant a penalty for rule violation pursuant to Florida Appellate Rule 3.17, 31 F.S.A. The record and briefs on the appeal proper have not been filed, but certified copies of pertinent pleadings in the lower court are available and sufficient to enable the motion to be disposed of.

Appellant's answer to the writ of garnishment herein admitted that it insured Andrew Busbee, Jr., the defendant in the negligence action, against liability or bodily injury and property damage in the amount of $10,000.00 per individual, $20,000.00 for any total number of individuals, and $5,000.00 property damage. We pause here to note that the judgment appealed recites that appellant produced the policy of insurance issued to Busbee; that appellant thereby bound itself to pay, in addition to the applicable limit of liability ($10,000.00), all costs taxed against Busbee in the negligence action and all interest on the entire amount of the judgment rendered therein accruing after entry of the judgment and before the appellant had paid or tendered or deposited in court that part of the judgment which does not exceed the limit of its liability thereon.

Following said admission, appellant's answer reads as follows:

"2. That Andrew Busbee, Jr., upon statement stated to it that the automobile insured at the time of the happening of the events in this law suit was being operated by someone other than himself or by someone without his knowledge and consent, or was not being operated or involved in the accident giving rise to this suit. That in compliance with said statement made to it, the agreement was entered into by and between Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company and Andrew Busbee, Jr., whereby a Non Waiver Agreement was entered into on the question of whether Andrew Busbee, Jr. was in fact insured by Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company as a result of the happening of the events which give rise to this law suit.
*85 "3. That Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company therefore denies that it has in its possession any sums of money, goods, chattels, rights or credits of the Defendant in its hands and is not indebted to the Defendant Andrew Busbee, Jr."

The judgment appealed provided that the plaintiff-appellee recover from the garnishee-appellant $10,000.00 plus $254.85 costs taxed in the negligence action, and $559.82 for interest accruing on the entire amount of the judgment in the negligence action ($25,000.00 principal and $254.85 costs) to the date of the entry of said judgment, October 29, 1964, and thereafter interest at the rate of 6% per annum on said full amount of the judgment so long as it failed to perform the stated obligation of the insurance contract. Upon application of the garnishee, the judgment appealed also fixed the supersedeas bond to be given on this appeal at $12,500.00. On the basis of Section 627.0127, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., it denied a prayer of the appellee to award an amount to be paid by appellant for the services of appellee's attorney in said garnishment proceeding.

Appellant's first assignment of error herein challenges the refusal of the trial court to discharge the writ of garnishment pursuant to rule 2.12, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 31 F.S.A., on the ground that the plaintiff and judgment creditor of the defendant Andrew Busbee, Jr., did not in accordance with such rule traverse the answer of the garnishee within the time allowed under such rule. A traverse is required under the rule only when the plaintiff in garnishment is not satisfied with the answer of the garnishee. Appellee asserts he was satisfied with appellant's answer because it admitted all essential facts and merely drew an erroneous conclusion of law therefrom that such facts exonerated the garnishee from responsibility. Appellee insists that under such circumstances it was not incumbent upon him to traverse or demur to the answer on pain of dismissal; and that he followed the proper procedure by moving for judgment on the pleadings, which motion was granted. Appellee's contentions are well founded. Appellant's answer admitted every fact essential to appellee's cause of action, and the court, not being bound by the erroneous conclusion of law stated in the answer, did not err in entering judgment for appellee on the pleadings. The conclusion we have reached is apparent upon a bare inspection of the record presently before this court.

Appellant's second assignment of error is based on the proposition that the trial court erred in allowing interest on the total amount of principal and costs recovered by appellee against Busbee in the negligence action. The judgment appealed correctly interprets the clear language of the standard automobile liability policy filed in said cause by appellant. This form of policy has long been in use in Florida and the pertinent provisions have been amply construed. See Highway Casualty Company v. Johnston, 104 So.2d 734 (Fla. 1958); Allstate Insurance Company v. Warren, 125 So.2d 886 (Fla.App. 1961); cases cited in Note 6 to Section 197, 7 Am.Jur.2d, Automobile Insurance. The rule enunciated by the Florida cases is paraphrased in said Section 197 as follows:

"Moreover, standard automobile liability policies now generally provide that the insurer is liable to pay, in addition to the applicable limits of liability, all costs taxed against the insured in any suit within the coverage of the policy and all interest on the entire amount of any judgment therein which accrues after entry of the judgment and before the company has paid or tendered or deposited in court that part of the judgment which does not exceed the limit of the company's liability thereon; and under such a provision it is clear that the insurer is liable for interest, until such time, on the amount of a judgment obtained against the insured even though it exceeds the policy limit."

*86 While the record on appeal does not specifically disclose that the appellant-garnishee furnished counsel for and defended the main action in the court below, on oral argument it was asserted to be the fact and was not refuted.

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Bluebook (online)
175 So. 2d 83, 1965 Fla. App. LEXIS 4157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grain-dealers-mutual-insurance-company-v-quarrier-fladistctapp-1965.