Industrial Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Kwechin
This text of 447 So. 2d 1337 (Industrial Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Kwechin) 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.
Opinion
INDUSTRIAL FIRE & CASUALTY INSURANCE CO., Petitioner,
v.
Deborah KWECHIN, Respondent.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Goodhart & Rosner, P.A., Miami, Schwartz, Klein, Steinhardt & Weiss, P.A., North Miami Beach, and Mark Hicks and Patrice A. Talisman of Daniels & Hicks, Miami, for petitioner.
Edward A. Perse of Horton, Perse & Ginsberg, and Michael Nuzzo, Miami, for respondent.
*1338 Chris W. Altenbernd of Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal & Banker, Tampa, for Allstate Ins. Co., General Acc. Fire & Life Assur. Corp., and Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., amicus curiae.
EHRLICH, Justice.
Pursuant to jurisdiction granted in article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution, we have before us the following certified question of great public importance:
[Whether] an insurer which sells to a prospective insured a personal injury protection policy containing deductibles, knowing that the prospective insured does not have other collateral insurance or benefits, is liable to the insured under the policy as if the policy contained no deductible.
Kwechin v. Industrial Fire & Casualty Co., 409 So.2d 28, 31 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). We answer the question in the affirmative and approve the holding of the district court.
Florida law requires that automobile insurance coverage must include personal injury protection (PIP). Deborah Kwechin, respondent here, purchased automobile insurance from petitioner, Industrial Fire & Casualty Co. Although the insurance agent writing the policy had actual knowledge that Kwechin had no collateral coverage, he provided a $4,000 deductible in her PIP coverage. Ten days later, Kwechin was injured in an automobile accident and sought compensation from the insurance company. The insurer refused to pay any medical expenses below the $4,000 deductible amount provided.
Kwechin brought suit, claiming the policy as issued violated section 627.739, Florida Statutes (1977) and that the insurance company was liable for medical expenses under the $4,000 threshhold, the deductible provision notwithstanding. Both parties moved for summary judgment; the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer. The district court reversed and certified the question we now address.
Section 627.739 provides, in pertinent part:
In order to prevent duplication with other private or governmental insurance or benefits for senior citizens and others with access to such insurance or benefits, each insurer providing the coverage and benefits described in s. 627.736(1) shall offer to the named insureds modified forms of personal injury protection as described in this section. Such election may be made by the named insured to apply to the named insured alone, or to the named insured and dependent relatives residing in the same household. Any person electing such modified coverage, or subject to such modified coverage as a result of the named insured's election, shall have no right to claim or to recover any amount so deducted from any owner, registrant, operator, or occupant of a vehicle or any person or organization legally responsible for any such person's acts or omissions who is made exempt from tort liability by ss. 627.730-627.741. Premium reductions for each modification or combination of modifications shall be adequate to recognize the reduction in hazard and shall be subject to the approval of the Department of Insurance.
(1) Insurers shall offer to each applicant and to each policyholder, upon the renewal of an existing policy, deductibles, in amounts of $250, $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, and $4,000, said amount to be deducted from the benefits otherwise due each person subject to the deduction, and shall explain to each applicant or policyholder that if they have coverage under private or governmental disability plans, they may avail themselves of deductibles or other modifications as provided in subsections (1), (2), and (3).
This provision is a part of Florida's Automobile Reparations Reform Act, sections *1339 627.730-.41 Florida Statutes (1973) (the "No-Fault Insurance Law). In Lasky v. State Farm Insurance Co., 296 So.2d 9 (Fla. 1974), this Court upheld that entire law in the face of a challenge to its constitutionality. Central to that decision was the Court's recognition of the legislative intent to enhance the public welfare through
a lessening of the congestion of the court system, a reduction in concomitant delays in court calendars, a reduction of automobile insurance premiums and an assurance that persons injured in vehicular accidents would receive some economic aid in meeting medical expenses and the like, in order not to drive them into dire financial circumstances with the possibility of swelling the public relief rolls.
Id. at 16 (emphasis supplied).
This enunciation of the general policy underlying the No-Fault Insurance Law is in no way in conflict with the specific policy set forth in the first sentence of section 627.739: "In order to prevent duplication with other ... insurance or benefits" insurers are authorized to offer deductibles. The express authorization of deductibles in the enumerated situations implies the prohibition against them in all other situations according to the rule of statutory construction inclusio unius est exclusio alterius.
Further support for this reading of section 627.739 comes from reading it in pari materia with the rest of Florida's No-Fault Insurance Law. To allow one who lacks any other applicable insurance coverage to purchase personal injury protection subject to a deductible of several thousand dollars makes that person, in effect, a self insurer for that not inconsiderable amount without subjecting the insured to any showing of financial responsibility as required by section 627.733(3)(b), Florida Statutes (1977).[1] Indisputably, allowing insurance companies to issue policies with large deductibles not covered by other insurance circumvents the general policy of this law as articulated in Lasky.
Accordingly, the necessity for a provision in the act which allows one with collateral coverage to pay a reduced premium for the statutorily required insurance is obvious in light of section 627.7372, Florida Statutes (1977). This section provides that any amount paid from a collateral source may be set off against any amount payable from insurance coverage mandated by the act. To require payment for coverage which is redundant, therefore uncollectable, would be inequitable. Hence, section 627.739 provides for a deductible to prevent overlapping coverage.
To read this statute to permit issuance of inappropriate coverage while it denies access to the courts to remedy the loss raises grave constitutional problems. See Lasky, supra; Kluger v. White, 281 So.2d 1 (Fla. 1973). When two constructions of a statute are possible, one of which is of questionable constitutionality, the statute must be construed so as to avoid any violation of the constitution. State v. Beasley, 317 So.2d 750 (Fla. 1975); Garcia v. Allstate Insurance Co., 327 So.2d 784 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976).
For the foregoing reasons, the certified question is answered in the affirmative *1340 and the decision of the district court is approved.
It is so ordered.
ADKINS and McDONALD, JJ., concur.
OVERTON, J., concurs with an opinion.
BOYD, J., dissents with an opinion.
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447 So. 2d 1337, 1983 Fla. LEXIS 3114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/industrial-fire-cas-ins-co-v-kwechin-fla-1983.