ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY AND NANCY ELIAS, APPELLANTS,
v.
RELIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE
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In a primary coverage dispute between a renter's insurer (Allstate) and a rental agency's insurer (Reliance), the court affirmed summary judgment for Reliance, holding that lease language properly shifted primary coverage responsibility to the renter's insurer, which includes a duty to defend the rental agency despite not being a named insured.
The trial court properly granted summary judgment for Reliance. Compliance with Florida Statute § 627.7263 through appropriate lease language shifted primary coverage responsibility to the renter's insurer, including a duty to defend the rental agency even though the agency is not a named insured under the renter's policy.
[1] A lease contract can shift the burden of providing primary coverage for minimum financial responsibility limits from a rental agency to a renter if the contract language…
[2] A renter's insurer may have a duty to defend the rental agency, even if the rental agency is not a named insured under the policy.
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“the language in the lease contract was sufficient to shift the burden of providing primary coverage for the minimum financial responsibility limits of $10,000 per person/$20,000 per occurrence from the rental agency to the renter”
Establishes the core holding that lease language can effectively shift primary coverage responsibility
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAllstate insured a renter; Reliance insured the rental agency. A dispute arose over which insurer bore primary responsibility for the minimum financia…
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PER CURIAM.
In a primary coverage dispute between Allstate Insurance Company [Allstate], the renter’s insurer, and Reliance Insurance Company [Reliance], the rental agency’s insurer, we find that the trial court properly entered final summary judgment in favor of Reliance where the language in the lease contract was sufficient to shift the burden of providing primary coverage for the minimum financial responsibility limits of $10,000 per person/$20,000 per occurrence from the rental agency to the renter. § 627.7263, Fla.Stat. (1989); Interamerican Car Rental Inc. v. Safeway Ins. Co., 615 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); Commerce Ins. Co. v. Atlas Rent A Car, Inc., 585 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), review denied, 598 So. 2d 75 (Fla. 1992); Quemes v. Biscayne Auto Rentals, Inc., 414 So. 2d 216 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982).
Additionally, we find that the trial court properly ruled that Allstate has a duty to defend Reliance’s insured, the rental agency.
[C]ompliance with section 627.7263[, Florida Statutes (1985) ]1 shifted to [the renter’s] insurer the responsibility for primary coverage of all claims arising from the vehicle rented by its insured up to the basic minimum limit required by the financial responsibility laws, including a responsibility to provide coverage to [the rental agency]. Such primary coverage which was owed to [the rental agency] encompassed the duty to defend.... See, Marr Invs., Inc. v. Greco, 621 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)(duty to defend is broader than duty of coverage/indemnification).
RJT Enterprises, Inc. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 650 So. 2d 56, 59 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), review granted, 659 So. 2d 1085 (Fla.1995). Additionally, we certify to the Florida Supreme Court the same question that the Fourth District certified in RJT as being one of great public importance:
ASSUMING THAT THE RENTER’S INSURER OWES A DUTY OF DEFENSE AND INDEMNIFICATION TO ITS INSURED, THE RENTER, DOES THE RENTER’S INSURER OWE THE RENTAL AGENCY, A NON INSURED UNDER THE POLICY, ANY DUTY OF DEFENSE AND/OR INDEMNIFICATION?
Affirmed; question certified.
. The 1985 and 1989 versions of section 627.7263 of the Florida Statutes are identical.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Miami Stage Lighting, Inc. v. Budget Rent-A-Car Sys., Inc., 712 So. 2d 1135 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…d DCA 1993). Adopting Budget’s argument would mean deleting the 627.7263(2) requirement that the risk-shifting clause inform “the lessee of the provisions of subsection (1)....” Contrary to Budget’s argument, Allstate Ins. Co. v. Reliance Ins. Co., 679 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996), quashed on other grounds, 692 So. 2d 891 (Fla.1997), and Interamerican Car Rental, Inc. v. Safeway Ins. Co., 615 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), do not require affirmance. The clause approved by this court in Allstate , placed the…
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Allstate Ins. Co. v. Reliance Ins. Co., 692 So. 2d 891 (Fla. 1997)…ER’S INSURER OWES A DUTY OF DEFENSE AND INDEMNIFICATION TO ITS INSURED, THE RENTER, DOES THE RENTER’S INSURER OWE THE RENTAL AGENCY, A NON INSURED UNDER THE POLICY, ANY DUTY OF DEFENSE AND/OR INDEMNIFICATION? Allstate Ins. Co. v. Reliance Ins. Co., 679 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. In Allstate Insurance Co. v. RJT Enterprises, 22 Fla. L. Weekly S49, 692 So. 2d 142 [*892] (Pla. Jan. 23, 1997), we addressed the same question. In that case, we rephrased the…
Authorities Cited
- Guemes v. Biscayne Auto Rentals, Inc., 414 So. 2d 216 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
- Marr Invs., Inc. v. Greco, 621 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Rupert Eubank v. State, 621 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Commerce Ins. Co. & William A. Henderson v. Atlas Rent A CAR, Inc., 585 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
- Interamerican CAR Rental, Inc. v. Safeway Ins. Co., 615 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)
- RJT Enters., Inc. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 650 So. 2d 56 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)