MATTHEW L. MCNAMARA, JR., ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
ROBERT EDWIN SEIBERT, ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 5th DCA | 1988-05-19
No. 86-1882
DAUKSCH and COWART, JJ., concur.
537 So. 2d 1009 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1988) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

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

The Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a summary judgment that denied wrongful death recovery under uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. The court held that a survivor (the unborn child of a decedent) qualifies as a covered person and insured entitled to recover for wrongful death caused by an underinsured motorist, even though the decedent was not a named insured or resident relative.


Holding

A survivor, as defined under Florida's Wrongful Death Act, qualifies as a covered person and insured under uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and may recover wrongful death damages from the policy, even when the decedent was not a named insured or resident relative of the policy holder.


Headnotes

[1] A wrongful death action is encompassed within the mandated uninsured motorist coverage for the protection of persons insured thereunder.

[2] An insurance policy provision that requires the insured or a "covered person" to suffer "bodily injury" giving rise to a damage claim is void and contrary to Florida publ…

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Key Quotes

“The statute says an insured should be able to recover any damages for which a tortfeasor would be legally responsible to that insured.”

Establishes the broad purpose of uninsured motorist statutes to provide recovery for all damages a tortfeasor would owe

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Facts & Procedural History

Rachel's father was killed in an automobile accident caused by an underinsured motorist. Rachel was an unborn child at the time of the accident, conce…

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Opinion of the Court
BEVERLY, V.Q., Associate Judge.

BEVERLY, V.Q., Associate Judge.

The appellants filed a wrongful death action to recover damages through the underinsured provisions of an automobile liability policy issued by appellee. The trial court concluded that the decedent did not qualify as an insured under the provisions of the policy and granted Liberty Mutual’s motion for summary judgment. This appeal ensued.

Subsequent to entry of the final summary judgment, this court rendered its opinion in Webster v. Valiant Insurance Company, 512 So. 2d 971 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). We conclude that the Webster opinion controls the issue raised by this appeal and thus reverse.

The instant case involves the claim of Rachel, survivor of a decedent who was killed in an automobile accident. Liberty Mutual insured Rachel’s grandmother with a policy that included underinsured motorist coverage. Rachel was an unborn child at the time of the accident, conceived by the decedent prior to the accident. Helen, Rachel’s mother, lived with the insured, Helen’s mother and Rachel’s grandmother at the time of the accident. The deceased likewise was residing with his parents when the accident occurred. Paternity is not an issue for the purpose of the summary judgment proceeding. The deceased was neither a named insured nor a resident relative of the named insured. The under-insured provisions of the policy state:

We will pay damages for bodily injury sustained by a covered person and caused by an accident, which the covered person is legally entitled to recover from the owner or the operator of an uninsured or an underinsured motor vehicle.

Rachel was a covered person for purposes of bodily injury to her. Section 627.727(1), Florida Statutes (1983) provides in part as follows:

No motor vehicle liability insurance policy shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state ... unless uninsured motor vehicle coverage is provided therein ... for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death, resulting therefrom. (Emphasis added).

This Court held in Webster:

The statute says an insured should be able to recover any damages for which a tortfeasor would be legally responsible to that insured. (Emphasis in original).

Mention in the uninsured motorist statute of recovery for injuries resulting in death clearly shows wrongful death actions were intended to be encompassed in the mandated coverage for uninsured motorists.

[The] policy which requires the insured or a “covered person” to suffer “bodily injury” giving rise to the damage claim, is void and contrary to Florida public policy.

Id. at 973. See also, U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty v. Fitzgerald, 521 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); West American Insurance Co. v. Lovett, 519 So. 2d 39, 40 n. 2 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987).

Rachel was an insured within the meaning of the policy, and has uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage as a “survivor” for the wrongful death of her father caused by the wrongful acts of an underin-sured motorist.

We therefore reverse the appealed Final Summary Judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

DAUKSCH and COWART, JJ., concur. BY ORDER OF THE COURT:

ORDERED that Appellee’s MOTION FOR REHEARING, filed June 3, 1988, is denied. However, Appellee’s ALTERNATIVE MOTION FOR CERTIFICATION is granted. Accordingly, the following is hereby certified to the Florida Supreme Court as a question of great public importance:
MAY A SURVIVOR, AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE FLORIDA WRONGFUL DEATH ACT, RECOVER FROM HIS OWN UNINSURED MOTORIST INSURANCE POLICY HIS DAMAGES WHERE THE DECEDENT IS NOT A COVERED PERSON UNDER THE POLICY?

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Citator

Cited By

  • Ellis v. Humana OF Fla., Inc., 569 So. 2d 827 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)
    …he decedent. And while the decedent had no direct obligation of child support before the birth of the child, this inchoate obligation created at fertilization springs forth into full life upon the birth of the newborn child. In McNamara v. Seibert, 537 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989), rev’d on other grounds 566 So. 2d 767 (Fla.1990) we held: [The unborn child] was an insured within the meaning of the policy, and has uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as a “survivor” for the wrongful death of her father…
  • Seibert v. McNAMARA, 566 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 1990)
    …GRIMES, Justice. We review McNamara v. Seibert, 537 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988), in which the Fifth District Court of Appeal, on rehearing, certified to this Court the following question of great public importance: MAY A SURVIVOR, AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE FLORIDA WRONGFUL DEATH ACT, RECOVER FROM HIS O…
  • …no conflict of interest between the representative and the person represented.”) (emphasis added). An unborn child may also recover damages under the Wrongful Death Act for a parent killed shortly before the child’s birth. See McNamara v. Seibert, 537 So. 2d 1009, 1010 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989), rev’d on other grounds 566 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 1990) (“[The unborn child] was an insured within the meaning of the policy, and has uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as a ‘survivor’ for the wrongful death of her father…

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