Allstate Ins. Co. v. Glassman, No. 98-285

• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM.
• Citation: 729 So.2d 485
• Decision Date: 24 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-285, No. 98-13.
• Parties: ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. Dr. Paul GLASSMAN and Interamerican Car Rental, Inc. Appellees.

729 So.2d 485

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant,
v.
Dr. Paul GLASSMAN and Interamerican Car Rental, Inc. Appellees

Nos. 98-285, 98-13.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

March 24, 1999.

Richard A. Sherman and Rosemary B. Wilder, Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Cooney, Mattson, Lance, Blackburn, Richards & O'Connor and Warren Kwavnick, Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.

Before COPE, GREEN and SORONDO, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate) appeals the lower court's Final Judgment entered

729 So.2d 486

in its favor against Dr. Paul Glassman (Glassman) and Interamerican Car Rental, Inc. (Interamerican). We affirm

Plaintiff Astrid Torres was riding as a passenger in her boyfriend, Glassman's, rental car when they were involved in an intersection collision. Glassman, who had $25,000 in insurance coverage, had rented the car from Interamerican. Interamerican was self-insured for $200,000. Torres wanted to testify in favor of Glassman that he had the green light, so she did not sue him for negligence. Instead, she sued Allstate, her uninsured motorist (UM) carrier, as it stood in the shoes of the other tort-feasor driver involved in the accident, Danilo DeJesus, claiming that DeJesus was 100% liable for her damages.

Allstate answered the complaint, admitting that Torres was insured under an Allstate policy and demanded strict proof of Torres' claim against it. Among its affirmative defenses, Allstate alleged that Torres' recovery under "the alleged under-insured motorist policy" was subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of the policy.

Allstate included with its Answer a third-party complaint against Glassman and Interamerican seeking contribution, based on Glassman's negligence and Interamerican's vicarious liability, asserting that as joint tortfeasors they were liable for contribution to Allstate for any injuries sustained by Torres.

The case went to trial. The jury verdict listed DeJesus and Glassman as the defendants for purposes of assessing their comparative fault. Glassman and DeJesus were each found 50% liable for the intersection collision. The jury found that Torres was not permanently injured and awarded her $40,936 in economic damages. The total award was reduced by Allstate's $10,000 PIP coverage to $30,936. Since the jury found Glassman liable, Torres then moved for entry of judgment for the entire verdict against both Allstate and/or Glassman and Interamerican. Allstate moved for entry of final judgment in its favor, arguing that Torres' damages had not exceeded the available insurance coverage and only economic damages were awarded, making all the parties jointly and severally liable. Allstate also moved for entry of final judgment against Glassman and Interamerican.

After an unsuccessful attempt at mediation and after the parties submitted memoranda of law to the trial court, the court entered Final Judgment against Allstate for the full amount of the verdict for Torres, $30,936. The trial court then entered a Final Judgment in Allstate's favor, against Glassman and Interamerican, for 50% of the verdict ($15,486), finding that...