MARTHA C. RAMOS AND RUBEN RAMOS, APPELLANTS,
v.
JULIUS JACKSON, APPELLEE
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The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's summary judgment holding that Florida's Insurers Rehabilitation and Liquidation Act governs foreign insolvent insurers with insureds in Florida, and that an insured's election to seek relief under the statutory scheme is irrevocable and does not violate the constitutional right of access to courts.
The court affirmed that the statutory scheme does not deny access to courts because the injured party has a meaningful choice between two remedies: either pursue tort claims against alleged tortfeasors or waive those claims and seek relief from the receiver of the insolvent insurer.
[1] The Insurers Rehabilitation and Liquidation Act governs foreign insolvent insurers with insureds in Florida.
[2] Filing a claim against an insolvent insurer constitutes a release of the insured from liability to the claimant to the extent of the insolvent insurer's coverage.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“once an election to seek relief under section 631.193, Florida Statutes (1985) is made the insured is released, and furthermore that such election may not be withdrawn”
Establishes the trial court's holding that the election under the statute is irrevocable
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe case involved a dispute over whether an insured could pursue claims against tortfeasors or was required to seek relief exclusively from the receiv…
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PER CURIAM.
The trial court held that pursuant to Section 631.011(10),1 Florida Statutes (1985), Ch. 631, Florida Statutes (1985), the “Insurers Rehabilitation and Liquidation Act” governs foreign insolvent insurers with insureds in this state, and that once an election to seek relief under section 631.-193,2 Florida Statutes (1985) is made the insured is released, and furthermore that such election may not be withdrawn. We find no error and affirm. See and compare Ervin v. Capital Weekly Post, Inc., 97 So. 2d 464 (Fla.1957); Richard Bertram & Co. v. Green, 132 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961); Matthews v. G.S.P. Corporation, 354 So. 2d 1243 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). We do not find that such a provision amounts to a denial to access to the courts pursuant to Article I, Section 21 of the Florida Consti tution (1968) as the injured party has a right to either seek relief against alleged tortfeasors or waive same and seek relief from the receiver of the insolvent insurer. Compare Acton v. Fort Lauderdale Hospital, 440 So. 2d 1282 (Fla.1983); Lasky v. State Farm Insurance Company, 296 So. 2d 9 (Fla.1974); Mahoney v. Sears, Roebuck & Company, 419 So. 2d 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Therefore, the final summary judgment under review be and the same is hereby affirmed.
Affirmed.
. Section 631.011 Florida Statutes (1985)
(10) "Insurer,” in addition to persons so defined under s. 624.03, also includes persons purporting to be insurers or organizing, or holding themselves out as organizing, in this state for the purpose of becoming insurers and all insurers who have insureds resident in this state. (Emphasis added.)
. 631.193 Releases
The filing of a claim constitutes a release of the insured from liability to the claimant to the extent of the coverage or policy limits provided by the insolvent insurer. The release is conditioned upon the cooperation on the insured with the receiver and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association and any other guaranty association in defense of the claim. This release does not operate to discharge the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association or any other guaranty association from any of its responsibilities and duties set out in this chapter.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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In re The Receivership of Int'l Forum OF Fla. Health Benefit Tr. v. S. Broward Hosp. Dist., 607 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…rovides, in part, The filing of a claim constitutes a release of the insured from liability to the claimant to the extent of the coverage or policy limits provided by the insolvent insurer. (Emphasis added.) The Third DCA held in Ramos v. Jackson, 510 So. 2d 1241 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), that once a party has elected to file a claim with a receiver, rather than seeking direct relief against the insured, the election may not be withdrawn. It appears that, pursuant to Ramos, the providers elected to file a claim wi…
Authorities Cited
- Washington v. State, 296 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1974)
- Lasky v. State Farm Ins. Co., 296 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1974)
- Ervin v. Cap. Weekly Post, Inc., 97 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 1957)
- Acton v. Fort Lauderdale Hosp. & the Ins. Co. of N. Am., 440 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 1983)
- Matthews v. G. S. P. Corp., 354 So. 2d 1243 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)
- Mahoney v. Sears, 419 So. 2d 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)
- Richard Bertram & Co. v. Green, 132 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)