CONTINENTAL CASUALTY COMPANY, AN ILLINOIS CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Continental Casualty Company appeals a summary judgment in favor of Florida Power & Light Company, which sought to recover defense costs from a third-party lawsuit that Continental allegedly breached its duty to defend. The court held that Continental was contractually bound to defend FPL under an ambiguous insurance policy provision and that the statute of limitations did not bar FPL's action because the cause of action accrued only when the underlying third-party litigation concluded.
Continental was contractually bound to defend FPL because the third-party complaint could be interpreted as charging FPL with omissions of general supervision, which falls within the policy coverage despite ambiguous policy language. FPL's cause of action did not accrue when Continental denied coverage but rather when the underlying third-party litigation concluded, so the five-year statute of limitations did not bar FPL's claim.
“This interpretation is authorized under the principle that any ambiguous term of an insurance policy will be most strongly construed against the insurance company.”
Establishes the rule that ambiguities in insurance policies favor the policyholder and obligate the court to interpret them against the insurer.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceContinental issued a liability insurance policy to Florida Power & Light Company covering bodily injury and property damage from operations by indepen…
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The defendant, Continental Casualty Company, appeals a summary final judgment for its insured, Florida Power & Light Company, in an action brought by the appellee to recover the expenses it incurred in defending an action brought against it by a third party. Each party *59moved for summary judgment. The facts concerning the expenses and their reasonableness are not controverted, nor is the fact that Continental agreed to defend a suit against Florida Power & Light Company if the suit involved the risk insured.
The first question presented is whether the trial judge correctly determined that Continental was contractually bound tO' defend Florida Power & Light in"the action brought by the third party. Continental urges that the policy it issued to appellee 'did not cover harm caused by Florida Power & Light’s negligence; that the complaint filed by the third party alleged only the negligence of Florida Power & Light; and that therefore Continental had no' contractual duty to defend Florida Power & Light. The policy involved provides bodily injury liability and property damage liability coverage for “operations performed for the named insured by independent contractors and general supervision thereof by the named insured, if the accident occurs in the course of such operations. * * ” The policy also provides that the “policy does not apply” under the foregoing provision “to any act or omission of the named insured or any of his employees, other than general supervision of work performed for the named insured by independent contractors.”
The action against Florida Power & Light which Continental refused to defend was brought by an employee of an independent contractor. The employee charged Florida Power & Light with failing to have its lines in such a condition that they could be safely worked upon at the time and place he was injured. Among other specific allegations were the following: Florida Power & Light (1) negligently failed to provide the employee with a safe place to work, (2) negligently failed to make reasonable inspection of the work site and the equipment on which the contractor was to do the work, (3) negligently failed to take reasonable precautions and adopt proper safeguards to protect him while he was doing the work, and (4) negligently required the work to be done upon a high voltage electrical transmission line which was so situated that there was a great danger of grounded material and equipment thereon being energized. All of these allegations may in their implications charge acts which constitute omission of general supervision under the broad language of the policy. This interpretation is authorized under the principle that any ambiguous term of an insurance policy will be most strongly construed against the insurance company. Transamerica Insurance Company v. Rutkin, Fla.App.1969, 218 So.2d 509. We conclude that since the action brought by the third party could be interpreted to charge Florida Power & Light with an omission of general supervision, it fell within the coverage of the policy, and therefore Continental had a contractual duty to defend Florida Power & Light.
Continental’s remaining point urges that the court erred in not finding that Florida Power & Light’s action was barred by the statute of limitations, § 95.11 (3), Fla.Stat., F.S.A. Since the contract was not under seal, the five year limit applied. Continental’s contention is that Florida Power & Light’s cause of action accrued and the statute began to run at the time when Continental sent a letter denying coverage (more than five years before Florida Power & Light instituted the present action) after Florida Power & Light reported that action had been brought against it. Florida Power & Light contends that its cause of action did not accrue until the litigation ended, specifically (since no appeal was taken), when the jury rendered its verdict (less than five years before Florida Power & Light instituted the present action). We hold that Florida Power & Light’s cause of action, a right to recover expenses incurred in defending a third-party action resulting from Continental’s refusal to defend the third-party action in violation of its contractual duty, did not accrue until the third-party litigation ended. Terteling v. United States, *60334 F.2d 250, 254-255, 167 Ct.Cl. 331 (1964). Cf. cases cited in 54 C.J.S. Limitation of Actions § 141.
Affirmed.
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Mims Crane Serv., Inc. v. Insley Mfg. Corp., 226 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)…of action for indemnification does not accrue until the litigation against the third party plaintiff has ended or the liability, if any, has been settled or discharged by payment. Continental Casualty Co. v. Florida Power & Light Co., Fla.App.1969, 222 So. 2d 58; Terteling v. United States, U.S.Ct. Cl.1964, 334 F. 2d 250; Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Glenn L. Martin Company, D.C.Md.1958, 161 F.Supp. 452; Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company v. United States of America, U.S.D.C. 7th Cir. 1955, 220…
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Grissom v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 610 So. 2d 1299 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…mployers’ Fire Ins. Co. v. Continental Ins. Co., 326 So. 2d 177, 181 (Fla.1976). Ordinarily, the statutory time commences on the date when judgment was entered and the litigation has come to an end. Continental Cas. Co. v. Florida Power & Light Co., 222 So. 2d 58, 59-60 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 229 So. 2d 867 (Fla.1969) (“We hold that Florida Power & Light’s cause of action, a right to recover expenses incurred in defending a third-party action resulting from Continental’s refusal to defend the third-par…1 / 2
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Emp'rs' Fire Ins. Co. v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 326 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 1976)…e legal theories that the three or four year statute of limitations would apply, since the lawsuit was commenced approximately 23 months after Continental’s payment to the injured plaintiffs. . Continental Casualty Co. v. Florida Power & Light Co., 222 So. 2d 58 (3d Dist.Ct.App.Fla.1969). . We recognize that it is impossible to conduct trial court proceedings five, six or seven days a week and uniformly complete minute book entries at the end of each day. On some days, the judge will simply not be availabl…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- N. L. and J. L. Terteling v. The United States, 334 F.2d 250 (Ct. Cl. 1964)
- Transamerica Ins. Co. v. Rutkin, 218 So. 2d 509 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)