State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Johnson, 90-2016
| Decision Date | 01 April 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-2016,90-2016 |
| Citation | 596 So.2d 1162 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, Appellant, v. Guy JOHNSON, Appellee. 596 So.2d 1162, 17 Fla. L. Week. D861 |
Richard A. Sherman and Rosemary B. Wilder of Law Offices of Richard A. Sherman, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.
Philip M. Burlington of Edna L. Caruso, P.A., West Palm Beach, and David E. French of David & French, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellee.
The question presented in the instant appeal is whether coverage exists under appellee Johnson's homeowners policy for injuries and damage arising out of the operation of Johnson's Yamaha Wave Runner. The instant policy provides that personal liability coverage does not apply to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a watercraft "designated as an airboat, air cushion, jet ski or similar type of craft."
In July 1988, Johnson purchased two Yamaha Wave Runners. In October 1988, one of Johnson's Wave Runners was involved in an accident causing personal injuries. Johnson sought coverage under his homeowners policy; however, State Farm denied coverage based on the exclusion set forth above. Johnson then filed a declaratory judgment action, asserting that his Wave Runner was not a "jet ski or similar type of craft."
The trial court concluded that the Wave Runner was not excluded from coverage. The trial court determined that when State Farm placed the term "jet ski" in its policy in 1984, the Kawasaki Jet Ski models, which only could be operated from a standing position, were the only such crafts in existence. In finding that the Wave Runner was not excluded from coverage, the trial court focused on its utilization. The trial court placed great emphasis on the fact that Johnson's Wave Runner, quite unlike the Kawasaki Jet Skis produced in 1984, could be operated from a sitting position and could be used as a boat tender. While the trial court did acknowledge many similarities between the Kawasaki Jet Ski, the Yamaha Wave Runner, and other types of craft propelled by a water jet pump, the trial court concluded that the Wave Runner was designed to be "an older person's or family type vessel rather than a young person's vessel." Based upon this perceived difference in utilization, the trial court concluded that the policy failed clearly to exclude coverage for a Wave Runner. The trial court found that State Farm should have amended its policy to include the term "personal...
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...watercraft, CCIC should have updated its policy to refer to them specifically when they became available. In State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Johnson (Fla.App.1992) 596 So.2d 1162, the court held an exclusion of liability for injury arising from the use of a "jet ski or similar type of craft,"......
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Fire Ins. Exch. v. Oltmanns
...Cal.Rptr.3d 215, 217–18 (2006) (referring to a two-seater personal watercraft as a "jet ski"); State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Johnson, 596 So.2d 1162, 1163 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1992) (per curiam) ("The term ‘jet ski’ is often used as a generic term for all personal watercraft despite the fac......