WAUSAU UNDERWRITERS INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
RAYMOND STANLEY TAUBLER, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
An insured party cannot recover under their uninsured/underinsured motorist policy if the tortfeasor's liability insurance limits are equal to or greater than their own.
Taubler settled with the tortfeasor's liability carrier for $20,000.00, which equaled the limits of his own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Underinsured Motorist Coverage cases and more on FLexlaw
SHARP, Judge.
Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company has filed a timely appeal from a summary judgment entered in favor of Raymond Taubler. We reverse the summary judgment because Taubler recovered an amount equal to his uninsured motorist coverage through a settlement with the tortfeasor’s liability carrier. Taubler was injured in a two-automobile accident involving himself and William Strauch. Strauch was driving his parents’ automobile without permission at the time of the accident. The Strauehs’ automobile liability policy with Aetna Casualty and Surety Company provided coverage in the amount of $50,000.00 per person. Taubler was covered by his stepfather’s uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with Wausau, which totalled $20,000.00. Tau-bler eventually released the Strauehs and Aetna Casualty and Surety Company for $20,000.00. Taubler then brought suit against Wausau to recover the total amount of underinsured motorist coverage. The trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of Taubler for $20,000.00.
When a tortfeasor has liability insurance with policy limits equal to or greater than those contained in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage pos sessed by an injured party, the injured party cannot recover under his or her own uninsured/underinsured motorist policy. Scharfschwerdt v. Allstate Insurance Company, 430 So. 2d 578 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983); see Dewberry v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, 363 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 1978). Because the Strauchs’ liability insurance policy limits were greater than those contained in Taubler’s underinsured motorist policy, Taubler was not entitled to recover under that policy. Therefore, we must reverse.
REVERSED.
DAUKSCH and FRANK D. UP-CHURCH, Jr., JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gov't Emps. Ins. Co. v. Battaglia, 503 So. 2d 358 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)…ge of the incident due to the available FFB coverage, which was in an amount equal to the uninsured motorists coverage. See [*360] Scharfschwerdt v. Allstate Insurance Co., 430 So. 2d 578 (Pla. 5th DCA 1983); Wausau Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Taubler, 448 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). On March 22, 1985, the circuit court, acting on GEICO’s motion, entered an order staying arbitration. Motions for summary judgment by the parties in the declaratory judgment action were denied. Thereafter, Senerchia disappeared…
-
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Rush, 777 So. 2d 1027 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)…ntiff cannot create a UM claim by settling with an insured tortfeasor for less than the amount of the plaintiffs damages where the tortfeasor’s total policy limits could have been used to cover those damages. Wausau Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Taubler, 448 So. 2d 545, 545-46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). Although they may not have intended to do so, the Rushes effectively created a UM claim with respect to Mrs. Rush’s noneconomic damages by settling as they did. Accordingly, we reverse the award in part. Allstate, under…
-
Morrison v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 543 So. 2d 425 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)…rm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 483 So. 2d 402 (Fla.1985) (applying the 1983 version of section 627.727); Bradley v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 460 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Wassau Underwriters Insurance Company v. Taubler, 448 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). Excess underinsured coverage provided the full limit of U.M. protection in addition to the tortfeasor’s liability coverage for an additional premium. The excess U.M. coverage was codified in section 627.727(2)(b), Florida Statu…
Authorities Cited
- Dewberry v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 363 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 1978)
- Wishneski v. ST. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist., 430 So. 2d 578 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
- Scharfschwerdt v. Allstate Ins. Co., 430 So. 2d 578 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)