Creighton v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 96-03447

• Decision Date: 18 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-03447,96-03447
• Citation: 696 So.2d 1305
• Parties: 22 Fla. L. Weekly D1756 Peter E. CREIGHTON, Carol Creighton, and Peter E. Creighton, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Madeline Creighton, deceased, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., a foreign corporation, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 1305

696 So.2d 1305

22 Fla. L. Weekly D1756

Peter E. CREIGHTON, Carol Creighton, and Peter E. Creighton, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Madeline Creighton, deceased, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., a foreign corporation, Appellee.

No. 96-03447.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

Second District.

July 18, 1997.

Stanley T. Padgett of Padgett & Mierzwinski, P.A., Tampa, for Appellants.

Nadine S. Diaz of Austin, Ley, Roe, Patsko, Swain & Diaz, St. Petersburg, for Appellee.

PATTERSON, Judge.

Peter Creighton, Carol Creighton, and Peter Creighton, as personal representative of the Estate of Madeline Creighton (the Creightons), appeal from a final summary judgment in favor of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. (State Farm) which determines the Creightons' uninsured motorist (UM) liability limits to be $10,000 per person to a maximum of $20,000 per accident. We reverse.

On May 29, 1987, McNamara & Associates, P.A. (McNamara), an accounting firm, applied to State Farm for a policy of automobile insurance to cover a 1987 Honda Accord. The application listed Peter Creighton, an employee of McNamara, as a driver. The policy provided limits for bodily injury of $100,000 per individual and $300,000 per accident. Pursuant to a written waiver, signed by an authorized officer of McNamara, the insured, the policy provided for UM limits of $10,000 per individual and $20,000 per accident.

On November 22, 1991, Peter Creighton leased a 1991 Infiniti in his own name and contacted State Farm for an insurance policy. McNamara applied to State Farm to transfer any policy credits on its policy to Peter Creighton. Rather than transfer the premium credits and membership fees to a new policy for Peter Creighton as the insured, State Farm made the following changes to the existing McNamara policy:

a- changed the owner of the policy from McNamara to Peter Creighton;

b- changed the billing address from McNamara's business address to Peter Creighton's home address; and

c- changed the insured vehicle from a 1987 Honda Accord to a 1991 Infiniti.

On August 7, 1994, the insured vehicle which Peter Creighton was driving was involved in an automobile accident with an uninsured motorist. Carol Creighton, Peter Creighton's wife, who was pregnant, was a passenger in the vehicle. As a result of the accident, Madeline Creighton was born prematurely and died on August 8, 1994.

The Creightons made demand on State Farm for UM benefits in the amount of $100,000 per individual and $300,000 per accident, equaling the bodily injury limits of the policy. Upon State Farm's rejection, this action for declaratory relief followed. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted State Farm's motion--the effect being that the UM benefits were limited to $10,000/$20,000 in accord with McNamara's initial rejection of higher limits. The court did not state the basis for its ruling.

Section 627.727(1), Florida Statutes (1991), requires UM coverage to equal bodily injury...