RICARDO PEREZ AND LUZ PEREZ,
v.
GEICO INDEMNITY COMPANY, ET AL.,

Fla. 3d DCA | 2019-10-23
No. 19-1534
283 So. 3d 398 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2019)
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

This case concerns GEICO's attempt to prove that a policyholder knowingly rejected uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) coverage. The court previously held that GEICO's rejection form was insufficient and remanded for a trial on whether the rejection was knowing and written. The current petition is denied as it seeks to revisit issues already decided or not properly before the court.


Holding

GEICO is not entitled to the statutory conclusive presumption of UM coverage rejection. The court declines to reach the issue of the "click-through" process's adequacy as it was not necessary for the prior decision and does not impact GEICO's ability to proceed to trial.


Headnotes

[1] An insurance company cannot rely on the conclusive presumption of UM coverage rejection under section 627.727(1), Florida Statutes, if its rejection form fails to track t…

[2] When an insurance company forfeits the statutory conclusive presumption of UM coverage rejection due to a defective form, the burden shifts to the insurer to prove the in…

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Key Quotes

“GEICO’s UM rejection form failed to track the precise disclaimer language set forth in the statute”

Establishes the basis for the prior ruling that GEICO's form was deficient.

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Facts & Procedural History

GEICO Indemnity Co. v. Perez ("Perez I") previously affirmed a trial court's determination that GEICO's UM rejection form was statutorily deficient. T…

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Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

In GEICO Indemnity Co. v. Perez, 260 So. 3d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) (“Perez I”), this Court: (i) affirmed the trial court’s legal determination that GEICO was not entitled to section 627.727(1)’s1 conclusive presumption that Perez had rejected uninsured/underinsured motorist (“UM”) coverage under his automobile policy because GEICO’s UM rejection form failed to track the precise disclaimer language set forth in the statute; but (ii) remanded for a new trial on the issue of whether Perez made a knowing, written rejection of UM coverage. Because we had already determined that GEICO was not entitled to the statute’s conclusive presumption, we expressly noted in footnote nine of Perez I that we need not reach the issue of whether the trial court had erred by determining GEICO’s click-through process also failed to comply with the statute. Id. at 352, n.9. In our view, the practical result of either alleged statutory violation was the same: GEICO’s forfeiting the statute’s conclusive presumption that Perez had waived UM benefits, with GEICO having to prove Perez made a knowing, written rejection of UM coverage.2 Thus, because the adequacy of GEICO’s online click-through process

had no bearing on GEICO’s ability to proceed to trial in this case, this Court declined to reach that issue. The instant “Petition for Writ of Mandamus and/or Certiorari” is, therefore, denied.

reversed the jury’s verdict for GEICO, concluding that, “allow[ing] an insurance company to prove that an insured orally and knowingly rejected stacked [UM] coverage . . . would undermine the legislature’s determination that such written notice is mandatory.” Id. at 999. As we noted, though, in Perez I, this case is not about an oral rejection of UM coverage. Perez I, 260 So. 3d at 353. GEICO’s claim in this case, as expressly noted in our Perez I remand instructions, is that Perez made a knowing, written rejection of UM coverage. Id. at 354.

Footnotes
1 See § 627.727(1), Fla. Stat. (2013).
2 This case is distinguishable from Jervis v. Castaneda, 243 So. 3d 996 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018). In Jervis, GEICO’s insured purchased insurance policies for two vehicles and completed an online form which, GEICO argued, was an election of non-stacked UM coverage. The trial court determined that GEICO’s non-stacking UM election form was void, a finding that GEICO did not appeal. Instead, GEICO was permitted to amend its affirmative defenses and argue to the jury that the insured had made an oral, knowing rejection of stacked UM coverage. Our sister court

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