RICHARD GAZIE AND LINDA GAZIE, APPELLANTS,
v.
ILLINOIS EMPLOYERS INSURANCE OF WAUSAU, INC., AND JOHN HANCOCK MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEES
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.
The court held that the insureds are bound by their insurance broker's acts, including the forgery of a rejection of uninsured motorist coverage, when the forgery occurred within the broker's control.
[1] An insurance broker acting as an agent for an insured is generally considered to have the authority to bind the insured by their actions, including the rejection of cover…
[2] A forgery of an insured's signature on an insurance application that occurs while the application is in the custody and control of the insured's agent may bind the insure…
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 intelligenceThe Gazies applied for automobile insurance and their application, which rejected uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, was assigned to Illinois Employers…
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 Uninsured Motorist Claim cases and more on FLexlaw
DOWNEY, Judge.
Appellants, Richard and Linda Gazie, (the Gazies), appeal from a final judgment in which the trial court found that the Gazies had rejected uninsured motorist (UM) coverage when they applied for insurance coverage on their automobile with appellee, Illinois Employers Insurance of Wausau, Inc., (Illinois Employers).
Richard Gazie went to the office of Ronald S. Winski in Miami, Florida, seeking automobile liability insurance. Winski informed him that three recent accidents on his driving record required that he be treated as an assigned risk through the Florida Joint Underwriting Association. Thus, in due course, the Gazies’ application for $100,000/$300,000 liability coverage was assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company for the first $10,000 worth of coverage and the remaining coverage was assigned to Illinois Employers.
During the policy period, Linda Gazie was involved in an automobile accident and an uninsured motorist claim was made against State Farm and Illinois Employers. State Farm paid its policy limits, but Illinois Employers denied coverage, based upon the Gazies’ application, which rejected uninsured motorist coverage. The Gazies furnished an affidavit in which they stated the signatures rejecting UM coverage were forgeries. When Illinois Employers continued to deny coverage, the Gazies commenced this suit.
This is the third appearance of this case in this court. In Gazie 71 this court reversed a summary judgment in favor of Illinois Employers, because the court held there was a genuine issue of material fact remaining regarding the forgery and who was responsible therefor. In Gazie II2 this court affirmed an order granting a new trial based upon the trial court’s holding that there was an inconsistency between the court’s charge and the jury verdict. Accordingly, this court affirmed with one dissent and remanded for a new trial.
On remand, by stipulation the trial court was to determine where the forgery of the signatures of the Gazies took place, and if the Gazies had UM insurance coverage with Illinois Employers. After considering the record made earlier, the pleadings, and the argument of counsel, the trial court found: 1) although there was no direct proof as to who committed the forgery, there was proof that the forgery was committed during the time the matter was in the custody and control of Ronald Winski & Associates; and 2) that Winski was acting as a broker for the Gazies and, since the forgery took place while the matter was under Winski’s control, the Gazies are bound by their agent’s acts. The court reached this conclusion of fact as a result of the uncontradicted testimony of an expert that the model used to forge the signatures was the same on both the applications for State Farm and Illinois Employers.
Furthermore, the only time the two applications were in the same place was when they were in Winski’s office.
Thus, it followed that the forgeries took place in the office of the Gazies’ agent, Winski. They, therefore, are barred by the rejection of the UM coverage by their agent. E.g., Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Co. v. Koven, 402 So. 2d 1352 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Noaker v. Canadian Universal Insurance Co., 468 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). The alternative would be to charge Illinois Employers with responsibility for the coverage when it played no part in the rejection thereof and was entitled to rely thereon. For an excellent explication of the relationship of broker and insurer and the responsibilities attendant thereupon, see: Quirk v. Anthony, 563 So. 2d 710 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990).
To avoid confusion, we further wish to distinguish our recent decision in Glynn v. New Hampshire Insurance Company, 578 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991).
Glynn has been cited to us as supplemental authority by the appellants, but by its very language is distinguishable from the instant case. In Glynn, on which two of the members of this panel sat, we discussed the significance of Quirk v. Anthony, 563 So. 2d 710 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), as distinguishing between the status of an insurance “broker” and an insurance “agent.” Without reiterating the factual distinctions and the legal significance of each status, suffice it to say that Winski, the broker in this case, was not in the same status as the insurance agent in the Glynn case. Because Winski did not have any authority to bind Illinois Employers Insurance of Wausau, Inc. or any other insurance company insofar as the Gazies’ insurance was concerned, he cannot be said to be an agent of the appellee for purposes of obtaining a rejection of uninsured motorist coverage. For that reason we affirm the judgment in favor of the insurer. In view of the foregoing, we affirm the judgment appealed from.
STONE and POLEN, JJ., concur. . Gazie v. Illinois Employers Insurance of Wassau, 466 So. 2d 1132 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).
. Gazie v. Illinois Employers Insurance of Wassau, 534 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gazie v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co., 632 So. 2d 1076 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…tle as we address it for the fourth time. The issue raised is whether the trial court erred in entering a summary judgment for John Hancock Life Insurance Company. The trial court found that this court’s decision in Gazie v. Illinois Employers Ins., 583 So. 2d 1098, 1100, (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), revieiv denied, 598 So. 2d 76 (Fla.1992), (GAZIE III) resolved factual issues as to whether John Hancock could be vicariously liable for the agent’s failure to procure uninsured motorist coverage for its insureds. Regrett…
-
Jackson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 667 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Travelers Ins. Co. v. Quirk, 583 So. 2d 1026 (Fla.1991). See Gazie v. Illinois Employers Ins. of Wausau, Inc., 583 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), rev. denied, 598 So. 2d 76 (Fla.1992). BOOTH, MINER and MICKLE, JJ., concur.…
-
Mercury Ins. Co. OF Fla. v. Sherwin, 982 So. 2d 1266 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)…g the broker authorization to reject such coverage. This court held that even if the broker improperly placed the insured’s signature on the application, the insured bore the risk of such error. See also Gazie v. Ill. Employers Ins. of Wausau, Inc., 583 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (actions of agent of insureds who allegedly forged insureds’ signatures on form rejecting uninsured motorist coverage was binding on insureds. The alternative would be to charge the insurer with responsibility for the coverage wh…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Empire Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Koven, 402 So. 2d 1352 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
- Quirk v. Anthony, 563 So. 2d 710 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Gustav Thorarinsson v. Robert F. Wilson, Inc., 563 So. 2d 710 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
- Glynn v. NEW Hampshire Ins. Co. & Bonina Ins., Inc., 578 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Gazie v. Ill. Emp'rs Ins. of Wassau, 466 So. 2d 1132 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)
- Gazie v. Ill. Emp'rs Ins. OF Wausau, 534 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)
- Noaker v. Canadian Universal Ins. Co. & Great Sw. Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., 468 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)