Vasquez v. Bankers Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 05 February 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 68530,68530 |
| Parties | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 90 John J. VASQUEZ, Petitioner, v. BANKERS INSURANCE COMPANY, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
J. Mark Maynor of Beverly & Freeman, West Palm Beach, for petitioner.
David F. Crow of Paxton, Crow & Bragg, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Milton A. Gasoi, Delray Beach, for respondent.
This case is before the Court on petition for review of a district court of appeal decision. Because the district court certified that its decision passed upon a question of great public importance, we have jurisdiction to provide review. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.
The certified question is set forth as follows Does a second signature on an insurance application affixed below a separate paragraph rejecting [uninsured motorist] coverage written in bold print and in plain and unambiguous language, conclusively demonstrate a knowing rejection absent extraordinary circumstances not deemed to be present in the case at bar?
Bankers Insurance Co. v. Vasquez, 483 So.2d 440, 443 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). We answer this question in the affirmative and approve the decision of the district court of appeal.
In this case Beverly Moore and her son, Timothy, applied for insurance when purchasing a motorcycle. The application papers stated that uninsured motorist coverage with specified limits of liability would be included in the policy at a stated premium unless an express rejection of such coverage was signed. The Moores signed a separate paragraph which specifically rejected uninsured motorist coverage in the following language:
Rejection of Uninsured Motorist (Family Protection)
The undersigned insured and the Bankers Insurance Company agree that in accordance with the provision of Florida Insurance Code, Section 627.727 part X of Chapter 627, which permits the insured named in the policy to reject the uninsured motorists (family protection) coverage, the undersigned insured does hereby reject such coverage, being the coverage provided for the protection of persons insured under this policy who would be legally entitled to recover damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting therefrom.
Subsequently, Timothy Moore was involved in an accident while carrying petitioner John J. Vasquez as a passenger. Vasquez filed suit against respondent, Bankers Insurance Company, seeking to recover uninsured motorist benefits pursuant to the insurance policy issued to the Moores. Bankers Insurance raised as one of its affirmative defenses that the Moores had rejected uninsured motorist coverage. At the trial, Mrs. Moore testified that she was not educated in insurance matters, that she thought she had full insurance coverage, and that she thought uninsured coverage meant no coverage. At the conclusion of petitioner's case, Bankers Insurance moved for a directed verdict on the issue of uninsured motorist coverage. The trial court denied the motion and submitted the issue to the jury which returned a verdict finding that the Moores had not made an informed, knowing rejection of uninsured motorist coverage. Bankers Insurance filed post-trial motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for new trial, both of which were denied.
Bankers Insurance appealed to the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, which reversed concluding that the motion for a directed verdict should have been granted. The district court determined that previous Third District Court of Appeal decisions, Alejano v. Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co., 378 So.2d 104 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), and Lopez v. Midwest Mutual Ins. Co., 223 So.2d 550 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969), held "that one who signs his name to an instrument rejecting uninsured motorist coverage cannot escape the consequences of his signature by alleging he did not understand or read the form, unless h...
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