Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Fulton
| Decision Date | 16 August 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 77-923,77-923 |
| Parties | The AETNA CASUALTY & SURETY COMPANY, Appellant, v. Kenneth Erwin FULTON, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Edna L. Caruso of Montgomery, Lytal, Reiter, Denney & Searcy, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Larry Klein and Cone, Owen, Wagner, Nugent, Johnson & McKeown, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a final declaratory judgment in which the trial court held that the plaintiff-appellee's "personal and professional excess indemnity policy" (commonly referred to as an umbrella policy) provided appellee with $5,000,000 of uninsured motorist coverage.
Appellee, a doctor, has a "family automobile policy" which covered three family automobiles and provided $300,000 in uninsured motorist benefits. The clinical laboratory of which appellee was a member carried professional liability insurance with the appellant, Aetna Casualty and Surety Co. As a condition to writing the professional liability insurance, Aetna required each of the members of the clinical laboratory to carry a $5,000,000 umbrella policy to insure against personal liability. This policy was obtained for the appellee by the administrator of the clinical laboratory and provided appellee with $5,000,000 of excess personal liability insurance and $25,000 excess uninsured motorist insurance.
Under Section 627.727, Florida Statutes (1975), an automobile liability insurance policy must have provided uninsured motorist insurance in an amount not less than the limits of the liability insurance purchased by the insured for bodily injury, unless the insured selected lower limits. Appellee successfully contended at the trial level that because he had not selected a lower limit he was statutorily entitled to uninsured motorist coverage in the amount identical to the liability coverage, to wit: $5,000,000. We agree with the trial court's decision.
Appellant presents two distinct arguments. First, it contends that Section 627.727 applies only to automobile liability insurance policies and the "personal and professional excess indemnity policy" is not an automobile liability insurance policy. This contention has no merit.
By the terms of the umbrella policy, appellee was covered up to $5,000,000 for liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, use, loading or unloading of any automobile or recreational vehicle when his liability exceeded that covered by his "family automobile policy." Although the umbrella policy provided personal injury liability coverage for liability incurred in other ways 1, it nevertheless provided automobile liability insurance. The...
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