HARRY THAL, APPELLANT,
v.
DAVID I. SHIMAN, APPELLEE
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.
An insurance customer appeals a summary judgment in favor of his insurance agent who allegedly failed to notify him that his automobile insurance coverage had lapsed, leaving him without protection when his vehicle was stolen. The court reversed, finding genuine issues of material fact regarding the agent's duty to notify and liability.
An insurance agent has a duty to notify the insured of cancellation unless the insured knew or reasonably should have known from sources other than the agent. The court held that conflicting inferences arising from undisputed facts regarding Shiman's responsibility constitute a question for the jury, not the court on summary judgment.
[1] An insurance agent has a duty to notify the insured of the cancellation or lapse of underlying coverage, unless the insured knew or reasonably should have known of the ca…
[2] An insurance agent's knowledge that an insured is continuing to pay premiums on a separate umbrella policy may create a factual issue as to whether the agent reasonably s…
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“If the insurance is cancelled, the agent is under a duty to notify the insured of cancellation, and if he fails to do so, may be held to have breached such duty unless it is made to appear that the insured knew or reasonably should have known of the cancellation from sources other than by being informed by the agent.”
Establishes the legal standard for an insurance agent's duty to notify of cancellation
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThal purchased comprehensive automobile insurance through agent Shiman and a separate umbrella policy. When Thal's Datsun was stolen, he discovered Al…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Proximate Cause In Insurance Claims cases and more on FLexlaw
SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.
Thai, who was a customer of Shiman, an insurance agent, appeals from a summary final judgment in the latter’s favor. The action was based upon the agent’s admitted and allegedly negligent failure to inform Thai that his underlying coverage had been cancelled or lapsed, leaving him with no effective protection. We conclude that the existence of genuine issues of material fact as to Shiman’s liability requires reversal.
Through Shiman, Thai procured underlying comprehensive automobile insurance from Allstate on his Datsun and a separate $1,000,000 umbrella policy. According to the plaintiff, the automobile was stolen but when he made a claim on Allstate, he was informed that its insurance had lapsed or been cancelled for his failure to pay a renewal premium. Allstate claimed that a notice of pending cancellation or non-renewal had been appropriately mailed to him. See Williams v. Security Mut. Casualty Co., 377 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), cert. denied, 388 So. 2d 1120 (Fla.1980).
Thai stated that he had never received any such notice from Allstate1 or from Shiman (who was himself indisputably informed of the termination by Allstate).
As a result, Thai ceased making payments to Allstate and did not procure any alternative insurance from another carrier in order to preserve his basic coverage. He points out that he did regularly make payments on the umbrella policy, although, since it requires the existence of underlying insurance as a pre-condition to coverage, it had been rendered useless by the lapse of the Allstate insurance.
This court has said that:
If the insurance is cancelled, the agent is under a duty to notify the insured of cancellation, and if he fails to do so, may be held to have breached such duty unless it is made to appear that the insured knew or reasonably should have known of the cancellation from sources other than by being informed by the agent. Rovella v. Standard Acc. Ins. Co. [121 Conn. 134, 183 A. 377 (1936)], supra; Kamen Soap Co. v. Prusansky & Prusansky, Inc. [5 A.D.2d 620, 173 N.Y.S.2d 706 (1958) ], supra. See Annot. 29 A.L.R.2d 171, 201.
Cat’N Fiddle, Inc. v. Century Ins. Co., 200 So. 2d 208, 211 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967), judgment as to separate party vacated, 213 So. 2d 701 (Fla.1968); see also Foster v. Nunmaker Discount Co., 201 So. 2d 215 (La.App.1967); Security Ins. Agency, Inc. v. Cox, 299 So. 2d 192 (Miss.1974); cf. Burgos v. Indep. Fire Ins. Co., 371 So. 2d 539 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) (no duty of agent to obtain new coverage after cancellation).
See generally 16A J. Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 8844 (1981).
In our view, the issue of Shiman’s responsibility under this rule presents a question for the jury. Shiman claims that he was entitled to rely upon his knowledge that Allstate had purportedly given notice to Thai and therefore need not have done so himself. Thai contends, however, that any such indication was dissipated by the agent’s knowledge that he was paying on the umbrella policy and that he would not have uselessly done so if he knew that the Allstate coverage had expired. Under all these circumstances, we invoke the familiar rule that the ultimate effect of contrary and conflicting inferences to be drawn from even undisputed facts is for the jury, and not for the court on summary judgment, to resolve. See Cat'N Fiddle, 200 So. 2d at 208.
Reversed.
. While no such action is now before us, we note that if Thai were successfully to pursue a claim against Allstate that no effective cancellation had occurred and that the underlying insurance therefore remained in effect, Shiman would not be liable since his alleged failure to give notice would have caused no damage to Thai. See St. Anne Airways Corp. v. Airmotive Suppliers Corp., 215 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Flores v. Green, 876 So. 2d 631 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)…nials settlement. We agree with Flores and Capital Insurance. Generally, an insurance agent’s liability for negligence leading to the cancellation of an insurance policy cannot exceed the amount of the insurance obtained. See [*633] Thal v. Shiman, 524 So. 2d 1156, 1157 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Cat ‘N Fiddle, Inc. v. Century Ins. Co., 200 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967) vacated on other grounds, 213 So. 2d 701 (Fla.1968). In the instant case, Ms. Green brought suit for Negligent Misrepresentation against Flores and…
Authorities Cited
- CAT 'N Fiddle, Inc. v. The Century Ins. Co., 213 So. 2d 701 (Fla. 1968)
- CAT 'N Fiddle, Inc. v. The Century Ins. Co., 200 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)
- Burgos v. Indep. Fire Ins. Co., 371 So. 2d 539 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
- Williams v. Sec. Mut. Cas. Co., 377 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
- ST. Anne Airways Corp. v. Airmotive Suppliers Corp., 215 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)