Martin v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.

670 So. 2d 997, 1996 WL 46591
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 7, 1996
Docket94-04020
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 670 So. 2d 997 (Martin v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.) 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
Martin v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 670 So. 2d 997, 1996 WL 46591 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

670 So.2d 997 (1996)

Stanley MARTIN and Adrienne Martin, individually, and as Co-Personal Representatives of the Estate of Brian Martin, Deceased, Appellants,
v.
ST. PAUL FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee.

No. 94-04020.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

February 7, 1996.
Rehearing Denied March 29, 1996.

*998 Anthony T. Martino of Clark, Charlton & Martino, P.A., Tampa, for Appellants.

Alan J. Landerman and Pamela Mark Burke of Parker, Goodwin, McGuire, Burke, Landerman & Dabold, P.A., Orlando, for Appellee.

Dock A. Blanchard of Blanchard, Merriam, Abel & Kirkland, P.A., Ocala, for Amicus Curiae Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

ALTENBERND, Judge.

The Estate of Brian Martin (the Estate) appeals a summary judgment denying its claim for uninsured motorist benefits on a specialty insurance policy issued by St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (St. Paul), insuring an antique automobile. Brian Martin died in an accident that did not involve the antique motor vehicle. The Estate claims that Brian Martin was a class I insured because his father is the named insured on this policy. We hold that the requirements of section 627.727, Florida Statutes (Supp.1992), and the legislative policies interpreted in Mullis v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 252 So.2d 229 (Fla.1971), do not require a specialty insurance policy covering only an antique automobile with restricted highway usage to provide uninsured motorist coverage for accidents not involving the antique.

Brian Martin died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident that occurred on July 12, 1993. He was a passenger in the back of a pick-up truck owned by Marshall Abrams and driven by Thomas Anglin, Jr. Allegedly, the accident was entirely the fault of Mr. Anglin. The insurance company that provided liability coverage for Mr. Abrams' truck has paid its limits of $15,000.

At the time of the accident, Brian Martin was fourteen years old and lived with his parents, Stanley and Adrienne Martin, in Brandon, Florida. If the Martins had a typical Florida no-fault automobile insurance policy on a car used by the family for regular transportation, that policy is not disclosed in the record. However, Mr. Martin did own a 1963 Ford Thunderbird that was covered by the antique automobile insurance policy issued by St. Paul.[1]

Several aspects of St. Paul's insurance policy are important to our decision in this case. The policy is entitled "Antique Automobile Insurance Policy." The declarations page reveals that it insured only the Thunderbird and provides $300,000 in liability coverage for each accident, $300,000 in uninsured motorist coverage, collision coverage, and personal injury protection. The total premium for the one-year policy, effective June 15, 1993, is $181. St. Paul charged $16 for the uninsured motorist coverage. Most of the premium, $140, is allocated to collision coverage on the antique vehicle. Obviously, the premium charged for liability and uninsured motorist coverage on this policy is a small percentage of the customary charge for comparable coverage on a standard family automobile policy.

St. Paul charges a reduced premium for this policy because the coverage is very limited. Endorsements 31689 and 31716 require that the insured auto be a classic car or a car 25 years or older. The auto must be maintained primarily for use in antique car club activities and only occasionally used for other purposes. The car cannot be driven to and from work or school, and its annual mileage *999 may not exceed 2500 miles. The liability coverage protects the named insured, family members, and other persons actually using the antique auto. Unlike a typical family automobile policy, this specialty policy provides no coverage if the named insured or a family member is driving another automobile. The uninsured motorist coverage is provided in endorsement 50424. This endorsement also limits coverage only to claims of insureds who actually occupy the insured antique auto at the time of the accident. Thus, St. Paul clearly intended for this policy to provide liability coverage and uninsured motorist coverage for 2500 miles of usage of the specific antique car described in the policy while being driven primarily in parades and club outings. In light of the reduced premium, the title of the policy, its coverages, and the correspondence sent to Mr. Martin with this policy, he cannot suggest that St. Paul misled him concerning the special nature of this policy.

After Brian Martin died, his Estate filed this action seeking underinsured motorist coverage from St. Paul. The Estate argued that Brian had been a resident relative in his father's home and that, in light of the public policies announced in Mullis, St. Paul was not authorized to issue a policy excluding coverage to a class I insured for such an accident. The trial court rejected this argument, and the Estate filed this appeal.

This issue appears to be a matter of first impression in Florida. At least four other states have considered this issue and have reached varying results. In Louisiana, the restrictive language of a comparable antique automobile insurance policy was enforced albeit over a dissent. See Sanner v. Zurich-American Ins. Co., 657 So.2d 252 (La.Ct. App.), writ denied, 660 So.2d 852 (La.1995). In Pennsylvania, an earlier edition of this insurance policy was enforced after the court determined that such a specialty policy was neither contrary to public policy nor in derogation of the insured's statutory rights. The majority opinion emphasized that the intent of the insurance policy and the reasonable expectations of the insured would not require typical uninsured motorist coverage in such a policy. See St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Corbett, 428 Pa.Super. 54, 630 A.2d 28 (1993). A dissent by four of the nine judges on that court relies heavily on language that no longer appears in St. Paul's policy.

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin refused to enforce such restrictions in an insurance policy, holding that it violated the applicable statutory requirements. See St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Zastrow, 166 Wis.2d 423, 480 N.W.2d 8 (1992). Three judges on that court dissented, arguing that a specialty policy on an antique automobile need not fulfill the statutory requirements for a standard policy. Finally, in Minnesota, an appellate court ruled that the policy did provide coverage to a class I insured for accidents not involving the insured antique auto. That court, however, allowed the antique automobile policy to receive favorable treatment on the issue of apportionment of the amount of the claim between two insurance policies. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 439 N.W.2d 751 (Minn.Ct.App.1989).[2]

In reaching a decision in this case, we have experienced the same difficulties that troubled the courts in the other four states. There are strong public policies favoring statutorily required UM coverage, and thus an insurance company's right to restrict such coverage is limited. Nevertheless, we conclude that the legislature has never intended to mandate class I, family-style uninsured motorist coverage in such a specialty policy.

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Bluebook (online)
670 So. 2d 997, 1996 WL 46591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-st-paul-fire-marine-ins-co-fladistctapp-1996.