Sommerville v. Allstate Insurance Co.

65 So. 3d 558, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 8987, 2011 WL 2421043
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 17, 2011
DocketNo. 2D10-829
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 65 So. 3d 558 (Sommerville v. Allstate Insurance 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
Sommerville v. Allstate Insurance Co., 65 So. 3d 558, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 8987, 2011 WL 2421043 (Fla. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

LaROSE, Judge.

Lillian Sommerville sued Allstate Insurance Company for uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) benefits for injuries she suffered while riding a motorcycle rented by her employer, Pavili Installations, Inc. She now appeals a final summary judgment entered in Allstate’s favor. We review a summary judgment de novo. Beverly v. State Farm Fla. Ins. Co., 50 So.3d 628, 629 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (citing Suncoast Auto Ctr., Inc. v. Consol. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 880 So.2d 728, 730 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)). The trial court erred in concluding that the business automobile insurance policy issued to Pavili did not provide UM coverage to Ms. Sommerville. We reverse.

Pavili was the named insured on the policy. See § 627.732(4), Fla. Stat. (2007) (“ ‘Named insured’ means a person, usually the owner of a vehicle, identified in a policy by name as the insured under the policy.”). Ms. Sommerville is the company president. The policy did not identify the motorcycle as a vehicle for which Pavili [560]*560paid premiums. However, under certain conditions, the policy provided for additional persons to be “insureds” and for additional vehicles to be “covered ‘autos.’ ”1

Typically, automobile insurance policies recognize two classes of insureds. Mullis v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 252 So.2d 229, 238 (Fla.1971). Class I insureds are named insureds and their resident relatives. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Warren, 678 So.2d 324, 326 n. 2 (Fla.1996) (citing Mullis, 252 So.2d at 238; Quirk v. Anthony, 568 So.2d 710, 713 n. 2 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), approved, 583 So.2d 1026 (Fla. 1991)). Class II insureds are lawful occupants of an insured vehicle who are not named insureds or resident relatives of named insureds; essentially, they are “third-party beneficiaries to the named insureds’ policy.” Id. Class II insureds “are insured only because they are drivers or passengers in an insured vehicle with the consent of the named insured.”2 Florida Farm Bureau Cas. Co. v. Hurtado, 587 So.2d 1314, 1317 (Fla.1991) (citations omitted). Because Pavili was the only named insured, Ms. Sommerville was no more than a class II insured. She is entitled to UM coverage only if the motorcycle she was riding was an insured vehicle.3

For purposes of liability coverage, the policy defines “an insured,” in pertinent part, as follows:

SECTION II — LIABILITY COVERAGE
A. Coverage
We will pay all sums an “insured” legally must pay as damages because of “bodily injury” or “property damage” to which this insurance applies, caused by an “accident” and resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use of a covered “auto”.
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1. Who Is An Insured
The following are “insureds”:
a. You [Pavili] for any covered “auto”.
b. Anyone else while using with your permission a covered “auto” you own, hire or borrow....

The UM endorsement defines an “insured,” in pertinent part, as follows:

B. Who Is An Insured
If the Named Insured is designated in the Declarations as:
[561]*561[[Image here]]
2. A partnership, limited liability company, corporation or any other form of organization, then the following are “insureds”:
a. Anyone “occupying” a covered “auto”....

Both the liability coverage section and the UM endorsement extend protection to any person occupying a “covered ‘auto.’ ”

The policy Declarations show premium charges for only two Pavili-owned trucks. Coverage, however, is not limited necessarily to those vehicles. Allstate used “covered auto designation symbols” to identify vehicles for each type of coverage under the policy. For liability coverage, Allstate used the following designations:

7 — Specifically Described “Autos” — Only those “autos” described in Item Three of the Declarations for which a premium charge is shown (and for Liability Coverage any “trailers” you don’t own while attached to any power unit described in Item Three).
8 — Hired “Autos” Only — Only those “autos” you lease, hire, rent or borrow. This does not include any “auto” you lease, hire, rent, or borrow from any of your “employees”, partners (if you are a partnership), members (if you are a limited liability company) or members of their households.
9 — Nonowned “Autos” Only — Only those “autos” you do not own, lease, hire, rent or borrow that are used in connection with your business. This includes “autos” owned by your “employees”, partners (if you are a partnership), members (if you are a limited liability company), or members of their households but only while used in your business or your personal affairs.

Pavili’s two trucks fall within designation 7. The rented motorcycle fits neatly within designation 8.4 For UM coverage, however, the Declarations list as “covered ‘autos’” only designation 7, Pavili’s two trucks. Accordingly, we must explain what some may view as an apparent gap in the policy between liability and UM coverages.

In enacting the UM statute, section 627.727, the legislature intended “to provide for the broad protection of the citizens of this State against uninsured motorists.” Salas v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 272 So.2d 1, 5 (Fla.1972); accord Gilmore v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins., 708 So.2d 679, 681 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). Insurers must provide UM coverage for all vehicles insured for liability purposes, at no less than the liability limits, unless the named insured rejects UM coverage entirely or selects lower UM limits.5 “The UM statute is intended to protect injured people and is not intended to benefit insurance companies or motorists who cause damage to other people.” Varro v. Feder[562]*562ated Mut. Ins. Co., 854 So.2d 726, 729 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (citations omitted); see Armstrong v. Allstate Ins. Co., 712 So.2d 788, 790 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) (citations omitted).

Uninsured motorist coverage “is statutorily intended to provide the reciprocal or mutual equivalent of automobile liability coverage prescribed by the Financial Responsibility Law[6].... ” Mullis, 252 So.2d at 237-38. “As a creature of statute rather than a matter for contemplation of the parties in creating insurance policies, the uninsured motorist protection is not susceptible to the attempts of the insurer to limit or negate that protection.” Gilmore, 708 So.2d at 681 (quoting Salas, 272 So.2d at 5). “[I]t is not to be ‘whittled away’ by exclusions and exceptions.” Mullis, 252 So.2d at 238. Of course, the named insured may reject or limit the statutory coverage. Id.; accord Gilmore, 708 So.2d at 681. But such limitation/rejection must be executed in writing on an approved Office of Insurance Regulation form fully advising the applicant that UM coverage will be equal to liability limits unless the applicant selects lower limits or rejects coverage. § 627.727(1), (2).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
65 So. 3d 558, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 8987, 2011 WL 2421043, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sommerville-v-allstate-insurance-co-fladistctapp-2011.