EMPLOYERS CASUALTY COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
ANTONIO G. VARGAS, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1964-01-08
No. 3922
KANNER, Acting C. J., and WHITE, J.. concur.
159 So. 2d 875 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1964) Positive Treatment
Cited by 25 cases

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Synopsis

Employers Casualty Company sought a declaratory judgment to deny coverage for Antonio Vargas based on alleged untimely notice of an accident under his insurance policy. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Vargas, finding that his notice 45 days after the accident was timely under the 'as soon as practicable' standard, and the appellate court affirmed.


Holding

The court held that under all the circumstances of this case, notice given 45 days after the accident was timely and satisfied the 'as soon as practicable' requirement of the insurance policy, and therefore the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of the insured.


Key Quotes

“a policy provision as to the time when notice of an accident must be given, such as, 'as soon as practicable,' has been construed to mean that notice is to be given with reasonable dispatch and within a reasonable time in view of all the facts and circumstances of the particular case”

Establishes the legal standard for interpreting 'as soon as practicable' notice provisions, requiring analysis of all circumstances

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Facts & Procedural History

Vargas, a Puerto Rican with a second-grade education who does not read English, had maintained an insurance policy with Employers Casualty Company for…

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Opinion of the Court
PATTISHALL, W. A., Associate Judge.

PATTISHALL, W. A., Associate Judge.

Employers Casualty Company, appellant here, as plaintiff below, filed suit for a declaratory judgment seeking a determination that Antonio G. Vargas, its insured, appel-lee here, as defendant below, was not covered by a policy of insurance written by it and admittedly in force on the date of an accident.

Defendant moved for and was granted a Summary Judgment on the question of whether or not notice of the accident given by him to the plaintiff’s agent was timely and sufficient under the following conditions of the policy:

“CONDITIONS — 3. Notice. In the event of an accident, occurrence or loss, written notice containing particulars sufficient to identify the Insured and also reasonably obtainable information with respect to the time, place and circumstances thereof, and the names and addresses of the injured and of available witnesses, shall be given by or for the Insured to the company or any of its authorized agents as soon as practicable.
* * ^ ^ %
“6. Action Against Company — Part II. No action shall lie against the company unless, as a condition precedent thereto, the Insured shall have fully complied with all the terms of this policy. * # *»

Final judgment was entered from which this appeal is taken.

There is a slight variance in the evidence as to the exact time that elapsed between the date of the accident and the time Vargas notified appellant’s agent of the accident, but it is stipulated on the record here by counsel for the respective parties, for the purpose of this appeal, that the time was 45 days. Vargas was Puerto Rican, and acquired a second grade education in Puerto Rico; he does not read English, although he speaks and understands English to a limited extent; his deposition was taken partially by means of an interpreter, and he had dealt with the same insurance agent for six years who always spoke to him in Spanish and never had told him that he was to notify anyone if he had an accident.

Representatives of both the Sheriff’s Department and the Highway Patrol were at the scene of the accident and one of them told Vargas to take his insurance policy to the Highway Patrol office, which he did that same day, and after someone read it over, he was told that it was all right and did not tell him to do anything else, and returned the policy to him. Later, when he received a letter from the Financial Responsibility Division, he took it to appellant’s agent from whom he had bought the policy and told him about it and of the accident and signed some paper form there, left his policy with the agent who told him there was nothing else to do. The next he heard was when he was served with summons in this suit.

*877As stated in State Farm Mutual Auto. Insurance Co. v. Ranson, Fla.App., 121 So.2d 175 (1960), cited by both parties, a policy provision as to the time when notice of an accident must be given, such as, “as soon as practicable,” has been construed to mean that notice is to be given with reasonable dispatch and within a reasonable time in view of all the facts and circumstances of the particular case.

Under the circumstances m this case, we cannot say that it has been made to appear that the very able trial judge was in error in holding in effect that the insured had given notice of the accident “as soon as practicable.”

Affirmed.

KANNER, Acting C. J., and WHITE, J.. concur.


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Citator

Cited By (13 total)

  • Am. Fire & Cas. Co. v. Collura, 163 So. 2d 784 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964)
    …insurance company was not liable under the policy. Earlier this year, we had still another occasion to apply the abstract principle enunciated in Ranson — -but this time with a different result. In Employers Casualty Company v. Vargas, Fla.App.1964, 159 So. 2d 875, the insured failed to notify the insurer of an accident for a period of 45 days. The insurance company sought a declaratory judgment determining that it was not liable under the policy, on the ground that the “notice” clause had been breached. It w…
  • Hartford Accident & Indem. Co. v. Mills, 171 So. 2d 190 (Fla. 1st DCA 1965)
    …y of facts by the lack of timely notice.’ (Emphasis added.) “8 Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice, § 4732, pp. 15-17. “With regard to ‘delayed notice’ cases, we conclude that the Ranson, Morton and Vargas [Employers Cas. Co. v. Vargas, Fla.App., 159 So. 2d 875] decisions have placed Florida in line with the weight of authority as described by Appleman above.” The rule thus adopted in the said decisions is adhered to, and for the reasons stated the decree appealed must be and it is Reversed. WIGGINTON a…
  • Bass v. AETNA Cas. & Sur. Co. OF Hartford, 199 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967)
    …yed notice’ cases, we conclude that the Ranson [State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Ranson, Fla.App., 121 So. 2d 175], Morton [Morton v. Indemnity Ins. Co. of North America, Fla.App., 137 So. 2d 618] and Vargas [Employers Cas. Co. v. Vargas, Fla.App., 159 So. 2d 875] decisions have placed Florida in line with the weight of authority as described by Appleman above. Thus, the insurance company is not required to show that it was prejudiced by the failure of the insured to give timely notice, in order to avoid lia…

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