FLORIDA FARM BUREAU MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
LYNDELL WAYNE PITZER, AS FATHER AND NEXT FRIEND OF LYNN DALE PITZER, A MINOR, ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1976-04-09
No. 75-400
WALDEN, C. J., and ALDERMAN, JAMES E., Associate Judge, concur.
330 So. 2d 499 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1976) Caution
Cited by 4 cases

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.

Synopsis

An auto insurance company sought declaratory relief to determine whether its liability coverage for the named insured's private passenger automobile extended to the insured's operation of a motorcycle. The court held that a motorcycle does not constitute "any other automobile" within the policy's coverage extension clause, reversing the trial court's judgment.


Holding

The court held that a motorcycle does not constitute "any other automobile" within the meaning of the policy's insuring agreement VI, and therefore the liability coverage did not extend to Pitzer's operation of the motorcycle.


Headnotes

[1] An automobile liability insurance policy's "Use of Other Automobiles" clause, which extends coverage to the named insured's use of any other automobile when the insured o…

[2] A policy's definition of "automobile" for medical payments coverage is inapplicable to liability coverage under the "Use of Other Automobiles" clause.

Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“If the named insured is an individual . . . and if during the policy period such named insured . . . owns a private passenger automobile . . . covered by this policy, such insurance as is afforded by this policy . . . with respect to said automobile applies with respect to the use of any other automobile.”

The operative language of the policy's Section VI coverage extension clause that defined the scope of coverage for other vehicles

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Appellant issued an owner's auto liability policy to Lynn D. Pitzer covering a 1965 Ford automobile. While the policy was in effect, Pitzer operated a…

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.


Opinion of the Court
OWEN, Judge.

OWEN, Judge.

This is a suit for declaratory judgment in which appellant sought a determination of its liability for coverage under an automobile liability insurance policy issued by it to one of the appellees herein. Appellant issued to appellee-Lynn D. Pitzer as the named insured an owner’s automobile liability insurance policy insuring a described 1965 Ford automobile. While the policy was in effect, Pitzer, operating a motorcycle owned by Judy Humphreys, was involved in a collision with an automobile operated by appellee-Eskew. Pitzer brought a personal injury action against Eskew who filed a counterclaim, which Pitzer called on appellant to defend. Appellant then filed the instant suit to determine its rights and obligations under the policy, contending that the policy did not provide liability insurance coverage to Pitzer while operating a motorcycle.

Section VI of the insuring agreements of the policy is entitled “USE OF OTHER AUTOMOBILES” and in pertinent part provides as follows :

“If the named insured is an individual . . . and if during the policy period such named insured . . . owns a private passenger automobile . . . covered by this policy, such insurance as is afforded by this policy . . . with respect to said automobile applies with respect to the use of any other automobile. ...” (e.s.)

Since appellee-Pitzer, the named insured, was an individual and during the policy period owned a private passenger automobile covered by the policy, the bodily injury and property damage liability insurance coverage with respect to the described automobile applied with respect to Pitzer’s use of any other automobile. The issue here is simply whether at the time of the collision the motorcycle being operated by Pitzer would qualify under insuring agreement VI as “any other automobile."

The definition of “automobile” as set out in the policy is of no help. It simply says that “ ‘automobile’ unless specifically stated to the contrary, means the motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer described in this policy. .. . ” Obviously, this definition of automobile cannot apply to the automobile referred to in the phrase “use of any other automobile.” Appellant argues, however, that the definition is helpful because it thereby points to the “type” of vehicle that is intended by the policy language “any other automobile,” viz: if the described vehicle is a private passenger car, then “any other automobile” means vehicles of the private passenger car type; if the described vehicle is a motorcycle, then “any other automobile” means motorcycles and similar type vehicles; if the described vehicle is a truck, then “any other automobile” means a truck or similar type vehicle; etc. We reject this argument as unsound, for as appellee-Pitzer points out, under this reasoning, had the policy described a motorcycle as the insured vehicle, and Pitzer had been driving his friend’s automobile, appellant’s argument would lead to the illogical conclusion that the automobile was not an “automobile” as used in the term “any other automobile.”

The policy also defined “automobile” in connection with the medical payments coverage, that definition being identical to the definition quoted in the body of the opinion in the case of Dorrell v. State Fire and Casualty Company, 221 So. 2d 5 (Fla.App. 3rd 1969). One might suspect that in the cited case the court inadvertently used the definition of “automobile” as it was there defined in reference to the medical payments coverage. In any event, we know that in the case at bar that definition of “automobile” clearly relates solely and exclusively to the medical payments coverage and is inapplicable to the liability coverage. The trial court erred in concluding to the contrary.

Simply stated, the policy does not define nor delineate what is meant by the word “automobile” as used in the term “any other automobile” in insuring agreement VI. Faced with the question of whether a motorcycle is “any other automobile” as such language is used in the policy, we conclude, for the reasons so aptly stated in Loftus v. Pennsylvania Life Insurance Company, 314 So. 2d 159 (Fla.App. 4th 1975), that it is not.

The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

WALDEN, C. J., and ALDERMAN, JAMES E., Associate Judge, concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Nicholson, 337 So. 2d 860 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
    …t the definition of words utilized in the normal course of the English language in order to impose liability upon an insurer, is not synonymous with the term “motorcycle.” Cf. Florida Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company v. Pitzer, Fla.App.4th 1976, 330 So. 2d 499. Similarly, common definitions of the word “motorcycle” contemplate two-wheeled vehicles. See, e. g., 27A Words and Phrases, “Motorcycle.” Although the appellant urges that the language in the recent case of Brandal v. State Farm Mutual Automobile…
  • Heritage Ins. Co. OF Am. v. Canter, 342 So. 2d 1081 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)
    …ies with respect to any other automobile . . There is no definition of “automobile” in the policy applicable to the use of other automobiles coverage. Recently, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Florida, Farm Bureau Mutual Ins. Co. v. Pitzer, 330 So. 2d 499 (Fla.4th DCA 1976), considered the question now before us. There, our sister court held that under an identical policy provision, where the word “automobile” was not defined, a motorcycle was not “any other automobile” and the insured was not covere…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw