GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM J. DOUGLAS, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1993-11-24
No. 93-0238
HERSEY, J., and WALDEN, JAMES H., Senior Judge, concur.
627 So. 2d 102 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1993) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 cases

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Synopsis

Government Employees Insurance Company appealed a trial court decision granting uninsured motorist (UM) benefits to its insured who was operating a vehicle owned by him but not insured under the GEICO policy at the time of the accident. The court affirmed, holding that the insurer failed to comply with statutory requirements for limiting UM coverage and therefore coverage applies.


Holding

The court held that the insured is entitled to UM coverage under his GEICO policy because the insurer failed to comply with section 627.727(9), which requires insurers to provide notice to the insured and obtain knowing acceptance of limited UM coverage before such limitations are valid.


Headnotes

[1] An insurer may limit uninsured motorist coverage for owned, but uninsured, vehicles only if it provides statutory notice and obtains knowing acceptance of the limited cov…

[2] Failure to comply with statutory notice and acceptance requirements renders an exclusion for owned, but uninsured, vehicles invalid.

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Key Quotes

“However, pursuant to this statute, to limit coverage validly, the insurer must first satisfy the statutorily mandated requirements of notice to the insured and obtain a knowing acceptance of the limited coverage.”

Establishes the statutory prerequisites for valid UM coverage limitations.

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Facts & Procedural History

The named insured had two vehicles insured with GEICO for liability and UM coverage. A third vehicle (a truck) had previously been insured by GEICO bu…

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Opinion of the Court
PARIENTE, Judge.

PARIENTE, Judge.

This appeal by insurer, in favor of the insured, involves the question of the availability of uninsured motorist benefits to a named insured who, at the time of the accident, was operating a vehicle owned by him, but not insured under the subject policy. We affirm the trial court’s conclusion that there is coverage.

At the time of the accident in May, 1989, the named insured had two vehicles insured by GEICO (insurer) for liability and uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. A third vehicle, a truck which the insured was occupying at the time of the accident, had previously been insured by GEICO under the same policy, but in 1988, thé insured had cancelled the GEICO insurance coverage on the truck and obtained a PIP only policy with another insurance carrier. Insured was rear-ended by an uninsured motorist and sought UM benefits under his existing policy with GEI-CO. Insurer denied coverage based on its UM coverage policy exclusion for owned, but uninsured, vehicles.

In this case, the accident occurred after the adoption of section 627.727(9), Florida Statutes (1987), in which the Florida Legislature-amended the uninsured motorist statute to allow an insurer to offer UM coverage with limitations, including the following one:

The uninsured motorist coverage provided by the policy does not apply to the named insured or family members residing in his household who are injured while occupying any vehicle owned by such insureds for which uninsured motorist coverage was not purchased.

Section 627.727(9)(d).

However, pursuant to this statute, to limit coverage validly, the insurer must first satisfy the statutorily mandated requirements of notice to the insured and obtain a knowing acceptance of the limited coverage. An insurer who provides coverage with the limitations of section 627.727(9) is also statutorily required to file revised, decreased premium rates for such policies.

Insurer does not controvert that it faded to inform insured of the limitation on coverage or to obtain a knowing acceptance of limited coverage as required by section 627.727(9). There is also no evidence concerning insurer’s compliance with the requirements of filing revised premiums. Insurer asserts that the notice requirement is inapplicable because the insured acquired coverage for the truck with a different insurance carrier. However, this does not obviate the requirement to comply with the statute as to the GEICO policy which provided UM coverage to the named insured, but attempted to limit the reach of the coverage.

If the policy exclusion is valid despite noncompliance with the statute, the provision of section 627.727(9)(d) would be rendered meaningless. Traditionally, UM coverage has followed the Class I insured regardless of the location of the insured. See Florida Farm Bureau Cas. Co. v. Hurtado, 587 So. 2d 1314, 1318 (Fla.1991); Coleman v. Florida Ins. Guaranty Ass’n., 517 So. 2d 686 (Fla.1988); Mullis v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 252 So. 2d 229 (Fla.1971).

We hold that the insured’s UM coverage under the GEICO policy provides coverage because the insurer failed to comply with section 627.727(9). Accord Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Phillips, 609 So. 2d 1385 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992), rev. granted, 620 So. 2d 761 (Fla.1993); Carbonell v. Automobile Ins. Co. of Hartford, 562 So. 2d 437 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).

Consequently, the insurer’s reliance on Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Wright, 543 So. 2d 1320 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 551 So. 2d 464 (Fla.1989) is misplaced since the accident in Wright occurred before the enactment of section 627.727(9). Likewise, Crosby v. Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 622 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993) simply does not address the effect of the 1987 statute. The insured is, therefore, entitled to UM coverage under his GEICO policy.

AFFIRMED.

HERSEY, J., and WALDEN, JAMES H., Senior Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Gov't Emps. Ins. Co. v. Douglas, 654 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 1995)
    …WELLS, Justice. We have for review Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Douglas, 627 So. 2d 102 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), in which the district court held that an automobile insurance policy issued by Government Employees Insur- [*119] anee Company (GEICO) provided Douglas with uninsured motorist coverage because the insurer failed to comply with s…
  • Jervis v. Castaneda, 243 So. 3d 996 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)
  • Gov't Emps. Ins. Co. v. Jenkins, 642 So. 2d 1193 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
    …imitations in UM coverage. Because Welker did not involve the 1987 statute, the outcome of this issue for post 1987 claims appears still to be up in the air. The supreme court has taken jurisdiction in Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Douglas, 627 So. 2d 102 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), review granted, 639 So. 2d 978 (Fla.1994), which squarely raises this issue. I concede that the supreme court’s instruction on remand to this court after its reversal of Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. [*1196] Phillips,…

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