PAN-AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, A LOUISIANA CORPORATION, PETITIONER,
v.
ANGEL FERNANDO TAMARGO Y DIAZ, RESPONDENT
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Pan-American Life Insurance Company sought certiorari to review an appellate decision awarding attorney's fees to an insured who recovered a policy's cash value. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the attorney's fees award, holding that the applicable attorney's fees statute does not apply to insurance contracts neither issued for nor delivered in Florida.
Attorney's fees are not recoverable under the circumstances of this case. Section 627.0127, F.S. 1969 does not apply to insurance contracts neither issued for delivery in Florida nor delivered in the state.
[1] Attorney's fees are not recoverable under Florida law for an insurance contract that was neither issued for delivery in Florida nor delivered in the state.
[2] A Florida appellate court's order awarding attorney's fees may be reviewed for conflict with another district court's ruling on the same issue.
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“With certain exceptions not pertinent here, Section 627.0127, F.S. 1969, F.S.A., does not apply to an insurance contract which like the one here involved was neither issued for delivery in Florida nor delivered in this state”
The core holding establishing that the attorney's fees statute is inapplicable to out-of-state insurance contracts
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePan-American Life issued a life insurance policy in 1943 at its New Orleans office to Tamargo, a Cuban resident at the time. Tamargo later moved to Mi…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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OVERTON, Justice.
This is a petition for conflict certiorari to review a decision of the Third District Court of Appeal reported as Diaz v. Pan-American Life Insurance Company, 296 So. 2d 534 (Fla.App.3d 1974). It concerns a life insurance policy which the petitioner, a Louisiana corporation, issued in 1943 at its New Orleans office, delivering that policy to the respondent who was then a citizen and resident of Havana, Cuba. The respondent, after becoming a resident of Miami, Florida, brought an action in 1973 to recover the cash value of the policy. The petitioner defended on the grounds that the statute of limitations barred recovery and further disputed the method of computing the value of the policy.
The trial court held the statute of limitations barred recovery under the facts of this case and entered a summary final judgment in favor of the petitioner insurance company. The action of the trial court was reversed by the Third District Court of Appeal, which directed the trial court to enter a summary judgment in the respondent insured’s favor as to liability and try the issue of “whether the proceeds of the policy were to be paid at a hundred cents on the dollar or in a lesser amount upon and equivalent to the value of Cuban pesos.” Upon filing its opinion, the District Court in a separate order granted respondent’s motion for attorney’s fees and ordered the petitioner to pay the attorneys for the respondent the sum of $750.00 as compensation for their services before that court.
We have no conflict jurisdiction over the opinion of the District Court on the merits of this cause, and it is not appropriate for us to comment further thereon.
The respondent concedes that the order awarding attorney’s fees by the Third District Court of Appeal is in direct conflict with the opinion of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Pan-American Life Insurance Company v. Fuentes, 258 So. 2d 8, 11 (Fla.App.4th 1971). We agree and take jurisdiction. Fla.Const., Art. V, § 3(b)(3). We hold that attorney’s fees are not recoverable under tfie circumstances of this cause, and we adopt the holding of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Pan- American Life Insurance Company v. Fuentes, supra, in which that court said:
. . With certain exceptions not pertinent here, Section 627.0127, F.S. 1969, F.S.A., does not apply to an insurance contract which like the one here involved was neither issued for delivery in Florida nor delivered in this state..."
The petition for certiorari is discharged as it concerns the opinion of the Third District on the merits of the cause. The petition is granted with reference to the order awarding attorney’s fees and the order is hereby quashed.
It is so ordered.
ADKINS, C. J., and ROBERTS and BOYD, JJ., concur. ENGLAND, J., concurs with an opinion, with which ADKINS, C. J., and OVER-TON, J., concur.
ENGLAND, Justice
(concurring).
I concur with Justice OVERTON’S opinion in all respects. The action of the Court in reviewing by certiorari only the order on which our jurisdiction is based, and not another district court order which would not be reviewable independently, comports with my understanding of the scope of our jurisdiction. Sunbeam Enterprises, Inc. v. Upthegrove, 316 So. 2d 34, 38 (Fla.1975) (England, J., concurring).
I concur specially, as I did in Bennett v. State, 316 So. 2d 41, Fla.1975, to note what I perceive to be the effect of our decision on other Florida precedents. I believe our decision today necessarily overrules General Ins. Co. of America v. Roth, 233 So. 2d 662 (3d DCA Fla.1970).
ADKINS, C. J., and OVERTON, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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AETNA Life Ins. Co. v. Smith, 345 So. 2d 784 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)…not issued for delivery in Florida nor delivered in this state. Smith is a resident of North Carolina, where the policy was issued and delivered. Attorney’s fees are not recoverable under these circumstances. Pan-American Life Insurance Co. v. Diaz, 322 So. 2d 549 (Fla.1975); Pan-American Life Insurance Co. v. Fuentes, 258 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971); Confederation Life Association v. Alvarez, 276 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973); Home Insurance Co. v. Denning, 177 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965). The next quest…
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Blue Cross OF Fla., Inc. v. Turner, 363 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)…it be delivered in this state. Therefore he contends that § 627.401(2) does not restrict the applicability of the attorney’s fee statute in this case. The Florida Supreme Court construed § 627.401(2) in Pan-American Life Insurance Company v. Diaz, 322 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 1975). In Diaz, a Louisiana life insurance company issued an individual policy through its New Orleans office and delivered that policy to the insured who was then a citizen and resident of Cuba. Diaz later moved to Miami where his claim on th…
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The Equitable Life Assurance Soc'y OF the United States v. MacGILL, 551 F.2d 978 (5th Cir. 1977)…t feels that only a nominal sum should be assessed against plaintiff/counterdefendant.” Subsequent to the order of the district court and the filing of briefs on this appeal, the Supreme Court of Florida, in Pan-American Life Insurance Co. v. Diaz, 322 So. 2d 549 (Fla.1975), held that attorney fees are not allowable in a suit on an insurance policy issued and delivered outside of Florida. Contentions on Appeal MacGill contends that the question of his entitlement to an award of attorney fees has been settl…
Authorities Cited
- Bennett v. State, 316 So. 2d 41 (Fla. 1975)
- Sunbeam Enters., Inc. v. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Upthegrove, 316 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 1975)
- Wines v. State, 233 So. 2d 662 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970)
- Lewis v. Louie L. Wainwright, 258 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)
- Diaz v. Pan-American Life Ins. Co., 296 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)