LUMBERMENS MUTUAL CASUALTY COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
LOYCE LESLEY, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF CAROL LYNN COUVILLION, DECEASED, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1983-06-30
No. AO-154
ERVIN and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur.
433 So. 2d 1299 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1983)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company appeals a judgment finding coverage under its policy issued to Mr. Michael for an accident involving Ms. Fraser's vehicle. The court reverses, holding that the policy's "furnished or available for regular use" exclusion bars coverage because Ms. Fraser's 1976 Oldsmobile was regularly available to Mr. Michael.


Holding

The court held that Exclusion 9 applied and Lumbermens had no liability coverage for the accident. The 1976 Oldsmobile was "furnished or available" for Mr. Michael's regular use based on the evidence that he used it at least weekly, never faced refusal, and had accessible keys to the vehicle.


Headnotes

[1] An "available for regular use" exclusion in an automobile insurance policy applies when the insured has consistent and unhindered access to and use of a vehicle, even if…

[2] The plain and unambiguous language of an insurance policy exclusion is not subject to strict construction in favor of the insured.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“For the ownership, maintenance or use of any vehicle, other than your covered auto, which is owned by or furnished or available for your regular use.”

The exact language of Exclusion 9 from the Lumbermens policy that bars coverage for vehicles furnished or available for regular use.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

On August 22, 1981, Mr. Michael was using Ms. Fraser's 1976 Oldsmobile to pull his boat and trailer when a flat trailer tire caused him to stop on I-9…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
THOMPSON, Judge.

THOMPSON, Judge.

Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company (Lumbermens) appeals a final judgment finding the “furnished or available” for regular use exclusion in the policy it had issued to Mr. Michael did not apply under the facts of this case, such that it did have coverage for the accident involved herein. We agree with Lumbermens that under the instant circumstances the “available for regular use” exclusion applied and that it did not have coverage for the instant accident under Mr. Michael’s insurance policy. We therefore reverse.

On August 22, 1981 Mr. Michael was using Ms. Fraser’s 1976 Oldsmobile to pull his boat and trailer on 1-95 South. As a result of a flat trailer tire, Mr. Michael pulled into the emergency lane and stopped. While Mr. Michael was so parked, a vehicle driven by Mr. Gilliard collided with the boat and trailer and Mrs. Couvillion, a passenger in the Gilliard vehicle, was killed. Appellee, as personal representative of Couvillion’s estate filed an amended complaint against Mr. Michael, Ms. Fraser, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Ms. Fraser’s insurance company), Mr. Gilliard, and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Mr. Gilliard’s insurance company). Lumber-mens filed a motion to be added as a party defendant or for intervention, seeking'judicial determination of whether its insurance policy issued on Mr. Michael’s 1978 Toyota applied to this accident. Pursuant to a stipulation and settlement between the parties the trial court entered a final order dismissing all defendants except Lumber-mens. The only issue remaining was whether Lumbermens’ policy with Mr. Michael provided coverage under the instant circumstances. The trial court found Exclusion 9 did not apply and, pursuant to the stipulation, ordered Lumbermens to pay appellee, as personal representative of Couvil-lion’s estate, $10,000.00.

The policy Lumbermens had issued to Mr. Michael contained the following relevant language:

PART A

LIABILITY COVERAGE

EXCLUSIONS

We do not provide Liability Coverage:

9. For the ownership, maintenance or use of any vehicle, other than your covered auto, which is owned by or furnished or available for your regular use.

(hereafter referred to as Exclusion 9). The record clearly establishes that Ms. Fraser’s 1976 Oldsmobile was “furnished or available” for Mr. Michael’s regular use. Accordingly, Exclusion 9 applies and Lumbermens is not liable to appellee under Mr. Michael’s policy. Although we recognize the general rule that an insurance policy should be strictly construed in favor of the insured and against the insurer, this rule does not apply here since the language of Exclusion 9 is plain and unambiguous so as to leave no room for construction. See Southeastern Fidelity Insurance Co. v. Suwannee Lumber Manufacturing Co., Inc., 411 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Travelers Insurance Co. v. C.J. Gayfer’s & Co., 366 So. 2d 1199 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).

It is clear from the deposition testimony of Mr. Michael and Ms. Fraser that they had lived together without benefit of clergy for several years prior to the accident involved herein. However, this fact is not dispositive of the issue because the applicability of Exclusion 9 is not dependent on a husband-wife relationship. Mr. Michael said between the time they moved in together and the time of the accident he used Ms. Fraser’s car at least once a week and sometimes more often. Although Mr. Michael would tell Ms. Fraser when he was going to use her car, he never had difficulty obtaining her permission to use her car. Indeed, Ms. Fraser indicated she had never refused a request by Mr. Michael to use her car. Although Mr. Michael did not have a set of keys to Ms. Fraser’s car on his key ring, there was a separate set of keys in the house which was accessible to him. Accordingly, it is clear Ms. Fraser’s vehicle was available for Mr. Michael’s regular use such that under Exclusion 9 Lumbermens did not have liability for this accident under Mr. Michael’s policy.

The disposition of the issue regarding the applicability of Exclusion 9 makes it unnecessary to address the remaining issue raised by Lumbermens. The judgment appealed is reversed.

ERVIN and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw