DAVID BERGDORF AND MARY BETH BERGDORF, APPELLANTS,
v.
ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1989-04-05
No. 87-2212
WALDEN, J., concurs., STONE, J., dissents with opinion.
541 So. 2d 716 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1989) Caution
Cited by 4 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

David Bergdorf appeals a trial court judgment finding his insurance policy had lapsed for non-payment. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that Allstate's uniform course of accepting late premium payments and reinstating the policy six times created an enforceable pattern of dealing that precluded denial of coverage when the company received but then refunded a late payment immediately before an accident.


Holding

The court held that Allstate's conduct in consistently reinstating the insurance policy after notifying the insured of cancellation had established a uniform course of dealing as a matter of law, which allowed Bergdorf to rely upon it and precluded Allstate from denying coverage.


Headnotes

[1] A uniform course of dealing is established by a consistent pattern of conduct relied upon by parties in a commercial transaction.

[2] An insurance company's consistent pattern of accepting late premium payments and reinstating policies after cancellation can establish a uniform course of dealing that pr…

Previewing 2 of 3 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

“A uniform course of dealing is a consistent pattern relied upon by the parties in a commercial transaction that neither party can deny occurred.”

Defines the legal standard for establishing a uniform course of dealing that binds an insurance company.

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

Bergdorf's insurance policy was cancelled and reinstated six times between December 1981 and March 1985, with the insurance company accepting late pre…

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
WESSEL, JOHN D., Associate Judge.

WESSEL, JOHN D., Associate Judge.

Appellant, Bergdorf, seeks a reversal of an adverse declaration by the trial court finding that Bergdorf s policy of insurance had lapsed for non-payment of the premium. The sole issue is whether the appellee (insurance company) had engaged in a “uniform course of dealing” with Bergdorf which precluded the insurance company from denying coverage.

The facts as determined by the trial court and supported by the record on appeal indicate the following:

(a) Policy cancelled December 14, 1981 Premium received — January 8, 1982 Policy reinstated.

(b) Policy cancelled November 15, 1982 Premium recieved — November 17,1982 Policy reinstated.

(c) Policy cancelled January 24, 1983 Premium paid — January 26, 1983 Policy reinstated.

(d) Policy cancelled September 20, 1983 Premium paid — September 24, 1983 Policy reinstated.

(e) Policy cancelled December 8, 1983 Premium paid — December 14, 1983 Policy reinstated.

(f) Policy cancelled December 30, 1984 Premium paid — January 7, 1985 Policy reinstated.

(g)Policy cancelled March 20, 1985 Premium paid — April 1, 1985

POLICY NOT REINSTATED.

Initially the insurance company accepted the premium payment which was due on February 27, 1985. The insurance company deposited it on April 1 and refunded it on April 11, 1985. Bergdorf’s daughter sustained an accident on April 12, 1985.

In Safeco Insurance Company of America v. Oehmig, 305 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975) the court found that one out of two times the receipt of late payments for a policy which was cancelled and reinstated does not constitute a course of conduct in doing business so as to preclude an insurance company from not reinstating the policy.

We find there was a uniform course of dealing by the insurance company which forestalled the cancellation of the appellant’s policy of insurance. In the instant case there was not one time prior to the last cancellation, after six (6) notices of cancellation and subsequent reinstatements of insurance upon late payments of the policy that the payment was not accepted and reinstatement occurred.

A uniform course of dealing is a consistent pattern relied upon by the parties in a commercial transaction that neither party can deny occurred. We hold that as a matter of law the conduct of the insurance carrier consistently reinstating the insurance policy after notifying the insured of cancellation had established a uniform conduct of doing business so as to allow the insured, Bergdorf, to rely upon it.

Therefore we reverse the judgment of the trial court with instructions on remand to enter a judgment for the appellant, Bergdorf.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

WALDEN, J., concurs.

STONE, J., dissents with opinion.

Dissent
STONE, Judge,

[*718] STONE, Judge,

dissenting.

I dissent because I can discern no reason to impose an automatic estoppel against an insurer simply because there is a checkered history of permitting reinstatement a half dozen times in over three years. This is particularly so where there is no adverse finding, after a full trial, of misleading conduct. Certainly the company had a right to cancel. A company has a right to make a judgment, based in part on experience with the insured, as to whether to reinstate a policy following cancellation for nonpayment. See generally Safeco Insurance Company of America v. Oehmig. There may even be more reason to uphold a decision not to reinstate a chronic offender, particularly where, as here, the tender is over a month late.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • The Travelers Ins. Co. v. D.J. Wells, Jr., 633 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
    …Building Products, Inc., 519 N.E. 2d 739 (Ind.Ct.App.1988); 43 Am.Jr.2d, Insurance § 138, 139, 142 (1982); Thomas R. Trenkner, Annotation, Broker’s Failure to Procure Insurance, 64 A.L.R.3d 398, § 3 (1975). . See Bergdorf v. Allstate Insurance Co., 541 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 551 So. 2d 460 (Fla.1989); T.D.S., Inc. v. Shelby Mutual Insurance Co., 760 F. 2d 1520 (11th Cir.1985); 16A Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 8878.35 (1981). . Carrier Agency Inc. v. Top Quality Building Products,…
  • Sepko v. Providian Auto & Home Ins. Co., 748 So. 2d 322 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
    …KLEIN, J. Appellant, the insured, appeals a summary judgment holding that his automobile insurance had been canceled and that he was therefore without coverage for an accident. We affirm. The insured relies on Bergdorf v. Allstate Insurance Co., 541 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) in which, prior to an accident, the insurer had, on six different occasions, reinstated a policy after canceling it for non-payment of premium. In a split decision, we held that the insurer had “established a uniform conduct of d…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw