Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. Ceballos
| Decision Date | 08 November 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-1717,83-1717 |
| Citation | 440 So.2d 612 |
| Parties | LUMBERMENS MUTUAL CASUALTY COMPANY, Appellant, v. Ricardo CEBALLOS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Kimbrell, Hamann, Jennings, Womack, Carlson & Kniskern and John W. Wylie and Roy Wasson, Miami, for appellant.
Richard & Pemsler and Barry Pemsler, Miami, for appellee.
Before HUBBART, NESBITT and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.
Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company appeals the entry of an adverse partial summary judgment determining the issue of its liability to the insured, Ceballos, as well as the denial of its countermotion for summary judgment. The question presented for review is whether a liability insurance policy is governed by the law in effect at the time the policy is issued or by the law at the time a claim arises. The law in effect at the time the insurance contract was executed controls. We reverse.
Under section 627.739, Florida Statutes (1975) [], an insured could purchase deductible PIP benefits at his option. No duty to inquire into the existence of collateral insurance was imposed on the insurance company. This statute was amended, effective September 1, 1977. As amended, an insurance company which failed to advise a purchaser of deductible PIP benefits of the need for collateral insurance would be liable as if there were no deductible. Kwechin v. Industrial Fire & Casualty Co., 409 So.2d 28 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981).
Ceballos purchased personal injury protection insurance with a $2,000 deductible from Lumbermens before the amendment to section 627.739, Florida Statutes took effect. It is undisputed that the insurance company made no inquiry about additional insurance, and that Ceballos had no collateral coverage. Ceballos was injured after the effective date of the amendment.
An insurance policy is a contract. § 624.02, Fla.Stat. (1981). It is well settled in Florida that the statute in effect at the time the insurance contract is executed governs any issues arising under that contract. See Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Fugate, 313 F.2d 788 (5th Cir.1963); Allison v. Imperial Casualty & Indemnity Co., 222 So.2d 254 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969); Poole v. Travelers Ins. Co., 130 Fla. 806, 179 So. 138 (1937). Applying section 627.739, Florida Statutes (1977) to contracts entered into before the statute was effective would constitute a legislative impairment of contract in violation of article I, section 10 of the...
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...logically, and constitutionally, governed by the law in effect at the time of the contract. See generally Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. Ceballos, 440 So.2d 612, 613 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) (explaining that the application of a statute to insurance contracts entered into prior to the date the statu......
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Pinzon v. First Liberty Ins. Corp., Case No. 5:12-cv-636-Oc-10PRL
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Patronis v. United Ins. Co. of Am., No. 1D18-2114
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