Doyle v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 05 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-1512,84-1512 |
| Citation | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 618,464 So.2d 1277 |
| Parties | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 618 Gerald E. DOYLE and Helena C. Doyle, Appellants, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Gerald E. Rosser, Miami, for appellants.
Walton, Lantaff, Schroeder & Carson and Kathleen A. Monahan, Miami, for appellee.
Before BARKDULL, NESBITT and FERGUSON, JJ.
This appeal is brought by plaintiffs from an adverse summary judgment on a complaint which names only the insurer as a defendant.
The coverage question presented is whether injury suffered at the hands of a robber as plaintiff exited his automobile was "caused by an accident arising out of the ownership ... or use of a motor vehicle and sustained by ... the named insured ... while occupying a motor vehicle ...," as the policy requires.
The undisputed facts as taken from exhibits and depositions are as follows. On August 21, 1981, at approximately 10:45 p.m., plaintiff, Gerald Doyle, accompanied by his wife, Helena Doyle, drove his automobile into his driveway and began exiting the vehicle. An unknown assailant carrying a gun approached the plaintiff and requested money. When Doyle reached for his wallet, the assailant shot him several times.
Barbara Mayor, a claims adjuster for defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, was first contacted by counsel for plaintiffs in 1981 concerning a claim for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. At that time, Mayor verbally denied PIP coverage for the shooting incident. At a subsequent time, she was again contacted by plaintiffs' counsel and, based on their telephone conversation, she agreed that the shooting of Gerald Doyle was covered under his wife's policy. She requested plaintiffs to forward their written personal injury protection application and medical bills so that the claim could be processed and payment made. Plaintiffs did not forward an application to State Farm until 1983. Prior to any payment being made and prior to receipt of the application, Mayor discussed the claim with her supervisor, William Reed, who informed her that the shooting incident was not covered by the PIP provisions of the policy. After the plaintiffs' application was received, Reed and Mayor again discussed possible coverage and the decision to deny the claim was affirmed. Plaintiffs' counsel was then informed accordingly.
Plaintiffs bring this action claiming that defendant failed to uphold the terms of the oral "settlement agreement" by refusing to pay PIP benefits to the plaintiffs.
Appellants rely on Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Novak, 453 So.2d 1116 (Fla.1984) and a more recent opinion of this court, Pena v. Allstate Insurance Co., 463 So.2d 1256 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). Novak states the controlling law. In that case, Beverly Novak was in her car and was about to drive away from her residence. She was approached by a mentally deranged stranger named Endicott who asked for a ride. When she refused, Endicott shot her in the face, pulled her from the car, got in, and drove away. The supreme court agreed with the district court that the assailant's motivation in "[o]btaining a ride in or possession of the motor vehicle" established the requisite substantial connection between plaintiff's use of the automobile and her fatal injuries. 453 So.2d at 1119.
In Pena, the plaintiff was a taxicab driver. A passenger entered the cab and asked to be driven to an area where he intended to rob the plaintiff. The passenger then pulled out a gun and demanded plaintiff's money. Plaintiff grabbed for the gun and, as a result, sustained injuries to his left hand. The injuries were caused either by the gun barrel or a bullet coming from the gun. The assailant then ordered the plaintiff out of the cab and drove the cab away from the scene. In a 2-1 opinion, to which Chief Judge Schwartz dissented with typical spirit, the court reversed in part a summary judgment entered for the insurer on a holding that:
the fact that the motor vehicle was a taxi cab was...
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