STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLANT,

v.

JAMES T. CARRICO, JR., AND MAYME CARRICO, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1967-06-12

No. 633

WALDEN, C. J., and WILLIS, BEN C., Associate Judge, concur.

200 So. 2d 265 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1967) Negative Treatment

Cited by 10 cases

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Holding

An insurer cannot reduce its liability under uninsured motorist coverage by amounts paid under medical expense clauses in the same policy, as such clauses are void against public policy established by statute.

Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiffs were insured by defendant under policies including uninsured motorist and medical payments coverage. After an accident with an uninsured mo…

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Topics

Medical Payments Coverage Arbitration Award Enforcement Uninsured Motorist Coverage Public Policy

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Opinion of the Court

ANDREWS, Judge.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, defendant, appeals a final summary judgment entered for the plaintiffs, James T. Carrico, Jr., and Mayme Carrico.

Plaintiffs were covered by an automobile insurance policy issued by the defendant and providing coverage for bodily injury caused by an uninsured motorist as required by F.S.A. § 627.0851 and for medical payments, for which separate premiums were paid.

The plaintiff, Mayme Carrico, was an additional insured under the policy and was injured when an uninsured motorist ran into the vehicle in which she was a passenger. The dispute was arbitrated by a board of three arbitrators, which made an award to James T. Carrico of $2,000, and to Mayme Carrico of $2,500. The policy contained a provision to the effect that any payment of loss under the uninsured motorist clause would be reduced by the amount paid for injuries under the hospitalization and medical expenses clauses of the policy. The arbitrators, however, provided that the amount awarded James Carrico would not be reduced by the medical payments which *266defendant had paid for the benefit of May-me Carrico in the amount of $903.64.

The award was not paid and suit for declaratory decree to enforce the arbitration award was instituted. The result was a summary judgment for the plaintiffs requiring the defendant to pay the award without deduction for the amount of the medical payment and, in addition, to pay all of the arbitration expenses except the part of the arbitrators’ fee required by the policy to be paid by plaintiffs, and to pay the fee of plaintiffs’ attorney.

The question presented has been considered by the courts in a number of instances involving various factual situations.1 However, the issue now appears to have been settled by the decision in Sellers v. United States F. & G., Fla.1966, 185 So.2d 689. This case reversed the District Court of Appeal decision in United States F. & G. v. Sellers, Fla.App.1965, 179 So.2d 608, which in turn had reversed the trial court.

The factual situation involved the claim of a passenger in a friend’s car injured as the result of an accident with an uninsured motorist. The effect of the Sellers case was to permit recovery against both carriers of the policy on which she was an insured and under the policy on her friend’s automobile. In so holding, the court said:

“It appears to us that the statute expresses the statutory requirements both as to coverage to be provided by the insurer, and as to its sources of recovery of insurance protection it paid from other persons, including other insurers legally responsible for the bodily injury to insureds, to the exclusion of inconsistent language inserted in an automobile liability policy. There appears no latitude in the statute for an insurer limiting its liability through ‘other insurance’; ‘excess-escape’ or ‘pro rata’ clauses, as attempted in Condition 5. If the statute is to be meaningful and controlling in respect to the nature and extent of the coverage and to the sources of recovery and subrogation of the insurer, all inconsistent clauses in the policy to the controlling statutory language such as are contained in Condition 5 must be judicially rejected.”

Condition 5 referred to in the above quotation provided coverage for bodily injury *267to an insured, while occupying an automobile not owned by a named insured and would be only for the excess over any other similar insurance available to the occupant.

The effect of this holding is to prevent an insurer from reducing its liability under uninsured motorist clauses by amounts payable to the insured under “other insurance” provision such as the medical payments made to plaintiff in the instant case.

We have considered the other points on appeal and find them without merit.

Affirmed.

WALDEN, C. J., and WILLIS, BEN C., Associate Judge, concur.

. Sims v. Nat’l Cas. Co., Fla.App.1965, 171 So.2d 399: Insured was entitled to recover under both uninsured motorist and medical expense clauses when injured in collision with uninsured motorist.

Hack v. Great Am. Ins. Co., Fla.App. 1965, 175 So.2d 594: The fact that plaintiff made claim against brother’s automobile insurer under uninsured motorist clause for injuries sustained in accident and obtained arbitration award which was paid by insurer did not preclude plaintiff from subsequently recovering under medical payments clause of brother’s policy for all medical expenses incurred as result of accident.

Standard Accident Ins. Co. v. Gavin, Fla.App.1966, 184 So.2d 229: The uninsured motorist statute, F.S.A. § 627.0851, established the public policy of this state •to be that every insured is entitled to recover under the policy for the damages he or she would have been able to recover if the offending motorist had maintained a policy of liability insurance. Insurance companies are without power to insert provisions in the policy which would restrict the coverage afforded by the policy in a manner contrary to the intent of the statute.

Tuggle v. Government Employees Ins. Co., Fla.App.1966, 185 So.2d 487: Policy provision excluding from uninsured motorist coverage medical expenses paid or payable under medical payments coverage provided for in policy did not violate public policy established by uninsured motorist statute, F.S.A. § 627.0851, to provide coverage for damages which insured would have been able to recover if offending motorist had maintained automobile liability insurance.

Damsel v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., Fla.App.1966, 186 So.2d 825: Policy provision for excluding from uninsured motorist coverage medical expenses paid or payable under medical payments coverage provided by same policy did not violate public policy established by uninsured motorist statute to provide coverage for damages for which insured would have been able to recover if offending motorist had maintained liability insurance coverage.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

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Eldred L. Tuggle and Catherine Tuggle v. Gov't Emps. Ins. Co., 207 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 1968)

…ual Automobile Insurance Co., Fla.App., 186 So. 2d 825, construed the indemnity insurance as written and approved and did not require double indemnity which holdings are approved. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Carrico, Fla.App., 200 So. 2d 265, and Phoenix Insurance Co. v. Kincaid, Fla.App., 199 So. 2d 770, are in conflict with this holding and, to that extent, are disapproved. To allow a set-off (or credit) to the indemnity insurer for money paid by it to the insured under the accidenta…

1 / 2
Stuyvesant Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 307 So. 2d 229 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)

…. E. g., Tuggle v. Government Employees Insurance Co., Fla.1968, 207 So. 2d 674, 24 A.L.R.3d 1343; United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Humphries, Fla.App.1968, 215 So. 2d 35; State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Carrico, Fla.App.1967, 200 So. 2d 265 (cert. denied, Fla.1968, 211 So. 2d 14); Phoenix Insurance Co. v. Kincaid, Fla.App.1967, 199 So. 2d 770. . E. g., Southeast Title & Insurance Co. v. Austin, Fla.1967, 202 So. 2d 179; Standard Accident Insurance Co. v. Gavin, Fla.App.1966, 184 So. 2…
Hughes v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 294 So. 2d 398 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974)

…nsured, for in this instance the benefits are payable as a matter of right in the case of an accident involving an insured automobile. * * * ” (at page 772) To the same effect is State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. v. Carrico, Fla. App. 4th 1967, 200 So. 2d 265. We hold, therefore, that the above mentioned release was not effective to bar plaintiff’s claim under the Florida Automobile Reparations Reform Act. However, a [*401] careful reading of the amended complaint reveals that a cause of action under th…

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Authorities Cited

Sellers v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 185 So. 2d 689 (Fla. 1966)
Standard Accident Ins. Co. v. Gavin, 184 So. 2d 229 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966)
Eldred L. Tuggle and Catherine Tuggle v. Gov't Emps. Ins. Co., 185 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966)
United States Fid. & Guar. Co. v. Sellers, 179 So. 2d 608 (Fla. 1st DCA 1965)
Doyle J. Sims and Viola Sims v. Nat'l Cas. Co., 171 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965)
Hack v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 175 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965)
Damsel v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 186 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966)

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STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLANT, v. JAMES T. CARRICO, JR., AND MAYME CARRICO, APPELLEES

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

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Authorities Cited

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLANT,

v.

JAMES T. CARRICO, JR., AND MAYME CARRICO, APPELLEES