PATRIOT GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, APPELLANT,
v.
AUTOMOBILE SALES, INC., D/B/A TOYOTA AUTOMOBILE SALES, APPELLEE
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The court held that an insurer's duty to defend is triggered only by allegations in the complaint that fairly bring the cause within the policy's coverage.
[1] An insurer's duty to defend is determined solely by the allegations in the complaint filed against the insured.
[2] To trigger an insurer's duty to defend, the complaint must allege facts that fairly bring the cause within the policy's coverage.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA repair shop lost a car part that a customer intended to use as evidence in a warranty claim. The customer sued the repair shop, which sought a defen…
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PER CURIAM.
Patriot General Insurance Company, defendant below in a declaratory action on a contract of insurance, takes this appeal from a final judgment ruling that it had an obligation to defend the appellee, Automobile Sales, Inc. [Toyota], in a lawsuit filed against Toyota by a third party. We reverse and hold that the insurance policy at issue prescribed no such duty to defend under these circumstances.
In 1973 Melvin Rappaport was involved in an automobile accident. The impact to his vehicle apparently caused the seat lock mechanism supporting the back of the driver’s seat to collapse, throwing Rappaport into the rear seat of the car. Rappaport’s automobile was transported to appellee Toyota for repairs. He allegedly instructed Toyota not to remove or repair the seat lock mechanism since he intended to use that device as evidence in a warranty action against the manufacturer. Despite these instructions, the seat lock mechanism was replaced and the allegedly defective mechanism was apparently lost or destroyed while the automobile was in Toyota’s custody.
Rappaport sued Toyota alleging that the loss of the seat lock mechanism had deprived'him of any viable cause of action based upon breach of warranty, product liability or negligence. He alleged in his complaint that Toyota’s conduct was intentional, malicious and had essentially limited his claim on the defective seat lock to one for personal injuries and incidental damages.
Toyota demanded that appellant Patriot defend it in the Rappaport case. Patriot declined, claiming that it had no obligation to defend Toyota under the provisions of a Garage Liability policy issued to Toyota by Patriot. Toyota defended the Rappaport lawsuit and prevailed on a motion for summary judgment. Summary final judgment was later affirmed on appeal. Rappaport v. Southeast Toyota Distributors, 363 So. 2d 881 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978).
Toyota then brought the instant declaratory action against Patriot seeking a declaration of its rights under the applicable insurance policy to determine whether Patriot was obligated to defend the Rappaport lawsuit on behalf of Toyota. Both parties moved for summary judgment on the pleadings. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Toyota and against Patriot and entered a final judgment in which it concluded that the allegations of Toyota’s complaint did fairly bring that cause within the coverage provided by the Patriot policy and that Patriot was under a legal duty to defend on behalf of Toyota.
We reverse on the ground that the allegations contained in the Rappaport complaint were not sufficient to bring that cause within the coverage provided Toyota by the Patriot policy. We hold that Patriot was under no duty to defend Toyota in that action.
The duty of an insurance carrier to defend a claim depends solely upon the allegations in the complaint filed against the insured. In order to trigger that duty to defend, the complaint must allege facts which fairly bring the cause within the coverage provided for in the policy. National Union Fire Insurance Co. v. Lenox Liquors, 358 So. 2d 533 (Fla.1977); Tropical Park v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 357 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978).
That' portion of the policy upon which Toyota relies is designated “Garage Liability”. It defines the scope of insurance coverage and the duty to defend as follows;
“The company will pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which this insurance applies, caused by .an occurrence and arising out of garage operations, including only the automobile hazard for which insurance is afforded . . and the company shall have the right and duty to defend any suit against the insured seeking damages on account of such bodily injury or property damage, even if any of the allegations of the suit are groundless . . ”
We agree with the appellant that the Rappaport complaint failed to allege a loss within the garage liability coverage. Rap-paport’s complaint alleged that Toyota’s agents or employees destroyed or lost the seat lock mechanism that he intended to use as evidence in an unrelated warranty claim. This is not a claim based upon property damage as contemplated within the policy and cannot fairly be said to have given rise to a duty to defend.
Appellee cites authorities for the general proposition that an insurer must defend any action where the complaint contains allegations which are partially within and partially without the scope of coverage.1 These authorities are inapplicable in this case where the losses complained of by Rappa-port were wholly outside the coverage afforded by the Patriot policy.
We therefore reverse the final judgment entered below and remand with directions to grant the appellant’s motion for summary judgment and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
. American Hardware Mutual Ins. Co. v. Miami Leasing & Rentals, 362 So. 2d 28 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Stevens v. Horne, 325 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975); Employers Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Kottmeier, 323 So. 2d 605 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Thomas, 315 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975), cert. denied, 336 So. 2d 108 (Fla.1976).
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Posigian v. Am. Reliance Ins. Co. of N.J., 549 So. 2d 751 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…policy and of the complaint filed in the other action. “The duty of an insurance carrier to defend a claim depends solely upon the allegations in the complaint filed against the insured.” Patriot General Insurance Company v. Automobile Sales, Inc., 372 So. 2d 187, 188 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); National Union Fire Insurance Company v. Lenox Liquors, Inc., 358 So. 2d 533 (Fla.1977); Reliance Insurance Company v. Royal Motorcar Corporation, 534 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), review denied, 544 So. 2d 200 (Fla. 1989)…
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Koala Miami Realty Holding Co., Inc. v. Valiant Ins. Co., 913 So. 2d 25 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)…determined that the Valiant policy does provide coverage to Koala as an additional insured, then the allegations of the Alvarado amended complaint will determine whether Valiant has a duty to defend Koala. Patriot Gen. Ins. Co. v. Auto. Sales, Inc., 372 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). The duty to indemnify is determined by the underlying facts of the case and not by the allegations. See Hagen v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 675 So. 2d 963, 965 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). For this reason, just because a duty to defend may e…
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Reliance Ins. Co. v. Royal Motorcar Corp., 534 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)…plaint against the insured, National Union Fire Insurance Co. v. Lenox Liquors, Inc., 358 So. 2d 533 (Fla.1977); Buckner v. Physicians Protective Trust Fund, 376 So. 2d 461 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Patriot General Insurance Co. v. Automobile Sales, Inc., 372 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), not by the actual facts, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. Edgecumbe, 471 So. 2d 209 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), nor the insured’s version of the facts or the insured’s defenses. Klaesen Brothers v. Harbor Insurance Co., 410 So. 2d 61…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- The Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Lenox Liquors, Inc., 358 So. 2d 533 (Fla. 1977)
- Home Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n OF Hollywood v. Doppelt Indus. OF Miami, Inc., 357 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
- Stevens v. Horne, 325 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Emp'rs Commercial Union Ins. Co. of Am. v. Charles A. Kottmeier, M.D., 323 So. 2d 605 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)
- Am. Hardware Mut. Ins. Co. v. Miami Leasing & Rentals, Inc., 362 So. 2d 28 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
- The Travelers Indem. Co. v. Thomas, 315 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)