Bartoszewicz v. Travelers Ins. Co., 79-469
| Decision Date | 06 August 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-469,79-469 |
| Citation | 386 So.2d 605 |
| Parties | Robert BARTOSZEWICZ, Appellant, v. TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY, a Foreign Corporation, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ronald J. Langa of Maher, Overchuck & Langa, Orlando, for appellant.
Ronald L. Harrop of Gurney, Gurney & Handley, P. A., Orlando, for appellee.
This is a timely appeal and cross-appeal from a summary final judgment in favor of defendant Travelers Insurance Company. The plaintiff/appellant, Bartoszewicz, filed a complaint alleging that he was injured in a motor vehicle accident on March 16, 1979, and that the defendant insurance company had wrongfully refused to pay personal injury protection (PIP) benefits to the plaintiff. Bartoszewicz was the driver and operator of a 1978 Mercury Zephyr owned by Vaughn Printers, Inc. Travelers answered and alleged that there was in full force and effect a business owner's policy of insurance wherein the named insured was Vaughn Printers, Inc. and William Drew Vaughn, which provided for automobile insurance coverage of the Zephyr, including PIP benefits. Travelers alleged that Bartoszewicz was excluded and filed a copy of the original policy containing the pertinent exclusion.
The declaration portion of the policy lists only "Vaughn Printers, Inc. & William Drew Vaughn" as "named insured." The PIP endorsement portion of the policy indicates that Travelers will pay PIP benefits in accordance with the Florida Automobile Reparations Reform Act where the bodily injury is sustained by:
(1) The named insured or any relative while occupying a motor vehicle or, while a pedestrian through being struck by a motor vehicle; or
(2) Any other person while occupying the insured motor vehicle or, while a pedestrian, through being struck by the insured motor vehicle.
The policy then lists exclusions and states:
This insurance does not apply:
(f) to any person, other than the named insured, if such person is the owner of a motor vehicle with respect to which security is required under the Florida Automobile Reparations Act, as amended.
The phrase "named insured" is defined as follows:
"Named insured" means the person or organization named in the declarations of the policy and if an individual, shall include the spouse if a resident of the same household.
Pursuant to a request for admissions, the plaintiff admitted that he was the owner and registrant of a motor vehicle which was registered and licensed in the State of Florida. Travelers moved for summary judgment on the grounds of the above-quoted policy exclusion and on the ground that the Florida Automobile Reparations Act excludes coverage because the plaintiff was the owner of a motor vehicle with respect to which security is required under the No-Fault Act. Plaintiff filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted Travelers' motion for summary judgment and denied plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment. Traveler's motion to tax attorney's fees pursuant to section 57.105, Florida Statutes (1979), was denied. Plaintiff Bartoszewicz appeals from the order of the trial court granting summary final judgment in favor of defendant, and the defendant...
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Travelers Ins. Co. v. Bartoszewicz
...Bartoszewicz is a named insured, relied on the rule of insurance law that equivocal insurance contracts are read in favor of coverage. 386 So.2d at 607. This rule employs basic contract law that an ambiguous written agreement should be construed against the party which drew the contract. Ca......