Case Name: Randy LAMZ, et ux., Petitioners, v. GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, etc., et al., Respondents
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2001-08-16
Citations: 803 So. 2d 593
Docket Number: No. SC00-492
Parties: Randy LAMZ, et ux., Petitioners, v. GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, etc., et al., Respondents.
Judges: SHAW, ANSTEAD, and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 803
Pages: 593–598

Head Matter:
Randy LAMZ, et ux., Petitioners, v. GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, etc., et al., Respondents.
No. SC00-492.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Aug. 16, 2001.
Rehearing Denied Dec. 21, 2001.
Scott A. Mager and Gary S. Gaffney of Mager & Sonn, LLP, Fort Lauderdale, FL; and Robert B. Baker of Baker & Zimmerman, P.A., Boca Raton, FL, for Petitioners.
Richard A. Sherman and Rosemary B. Wilder of the Law Offices of Richard A. Sherman, P.A.; and Alan W. Kaback of the Law Offices of Gary E. DeCesare, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Respondents.
Jeff Tomberg, J.D., P.A., Boynton Beach, FL, for The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Amicus Curiae.

Opinion:
QUINCE, J.
We have for review Lamz v. Geico General Insurance Co., 748 So.2d 319 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), which expressly and directly conflicts with Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Krawzak, 675 So.2d 115 (Fla.1996), on the issue of whether the petitioners are entitled to have their uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier specially referred to as such, when the carrier is joined as a party defendant. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. For the reasons set forth below, we quash the Fourth District's decision and find that the plaintiffs are entitled to have the jury know that the joined carrier is the plaintiffs' uninsured/underinsured carrier.
The facts of this case, as stated by the Fourth District, are as follows:
Appellants Randy and Deborah Lamz were involved in an automobile accident with a car driven by appellee Marnee Nichols and owned by appellee Morris Leisner. The Lamzes sued Nichols and Leisner, alleging that Nichols was negligent in the operation of Leisner's automobile. As the Lamzes' underinsured motorist carrier, Geico General Insurance Company ("Geico") was joined as a party defendant.
Geico participated at trial as a party defendant, represented by its own attorney. A different attorney represented Nichols and Leisner. During voir dire, the trial judge identified all the defendants in the case for the jury venire:
PQtfs alleged in the plaintiffs' complaint that the defendant, Marnee Heather Nichols, was the operator of the other vehicle, that Mr. Morris Leisner was the owner of the other vehicle, and the other defendant, Gei-eo General Insurance Company, is the plaintiffs' automotive insurance carrier, and is also joined here as a defendant.
The judge denied appellants' request that Geico be specifically referred to as the plaintiffs' "underinsured motorist carrier."
On appeal, the Fourth District affirmed the ruling of the trial court, opining that our decision in Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Krawzak, 675 So.2d 115 (Fla.1996), does not require revelation of the exact nature of the insurance coverage implicated by the appearance of the plaintiffs' carrier in the lawsuit.
In Krawzak, this Court indicated that in actions pursuant to section 627.727(6), Florida Statutes (1991) , it is appropriate to tell the jury of the presence of an uninsured motorist (UM) carrier which has been properly joined in the action against the tortfeasor. Krawzak, 675 So.2d at 117. In so holding, we approved the reasoning of the Fourth District that because the UM carrier was lawfully sued under the statute and pursuant to the terms of the contract its actual status should be disclosed to the jury. We relied in part on our decision in Dosdourian v. Carsten, 624 So.2d 241 (Fla.1993), which concerned "Mary Carter agreements" between the plaintiff and one or more settling defendants and which encouraged full disclosure before the jury. We said:
In Dosdourian v. Carsten, 624 So.2d 241 (Fla.1993), we took a strong stand against charades in trials. To have the UM insurer, which by statute is a necessary party, not be so named to the jury is a pure fiction in violation of this policy. The unknown consequence of such a fiction could adversely affect the rights of the insured who contracted and paid for this insurance.
Krawzak, 675 So.2d at 118 (footnote omitted). In 1999, we went a step further and deemed the failure of the trial court to identify a properly joined uninsured/under-insured motorist carrier to the jury as per se reversible error. Medina v. Peralta, 724 So.2d 1188 (Fla.1999). The plaintiffs in Medina, like the plaintiffs in the case before us, filed a complaint against the tortfeasors and their uninsured/underin-sured motorist carrier based on an automobile accident.
Geico argues here that the trial court did follow the mandate of Krawzak by explaining to the jury that Geico was the Lamzes' insurer. Geico was, however, being sued in its capacity as the Lamzes' underinsured motorist carrier. The trial court refused to make this distinction. The Fourth District agreed with the trial court and stated:
We read Krawzak as requiring identification of a UM or UIM carrier as a party defendant and designation of the attorneys representing the carrier at trial. We do not read the case as mandating the revelation of the precise nature of the insurance coverage implicated in the case. The major policy reason behind the Krawzak rule — the avoidance of charades at trial — is satisfied by the disclosure of the insurer as a party and the identification of the lawyers at trial acting on its behalf. With such a disclosure, a jury observing and listening to the carrier's lawyers will understand the carrier's position at trial.
Revealing in this case that GEICO was the underinsured motorist carrier would have suggested to the jurors that the other defendants had insurance coverage. This runs counter to the policy of "excluding improper references of a defendant's insurance coverage in civil proceedings . to preclude jurors from affixing liability where none otherwise exists or to arrive at excessive amounts through sympathy for the injured party with the thought that the burden would not have to be borne by the defendant."
Lamz v. Geico Gen. Ins. Co., 748 So.2d at 320-21. Conversely, failure to specifically identify the underinsured carrier as such leaves the jury to speculate about the exact role of the plaintiffs carrier in the lawsuit, perpetuating the "charades in trials" denounced by this Court in Dosdouri-an.
Moreover, the Medina, Krawzak, and Dosdourian line of cases clearly establishes the principle that the jury should be made aware of the precise identity of an uninsured or underinsured insurance carrier if it is a party at trial. The policy behind such a requirement is that full disclosure of the identity of the parties protects the integrity of the jury system and prevents charades at trial. See Medina; Krawzak; Dosdourian. This principle was violated by the trial court and the Fourth District. Identifying the insurance company as merely a plaintiffs insurer without clarifying the full capacity in which it is being sued does not make the jury fully aware of the underinsured carrier's posture in the litigation.
Geico argues that many of the cases decided after Krawzak are distinguished from the instant situation by the fact that in those cases, including the Medina case, the trial judge did not identify the insurer at all, and the insurer's counsel was considered the tortfeasor's co-counsel. The Fourth District also found a distinction based on the fact that in this case Geico was not permitted to "sit out" of the trial anonymously. Such distinctions, however, do not change the basic premise on which Medina, Krawzak, and Dosdourian were decided. Krawzak and its progeny make clear that when the uninsured or underin-sured motorist carrier is properly named as a party defendant, it must be identified as such. We have made it clear that the jury should know who the parties are, and in this case, the jury was not fully apprised of Geico's specific party status. This was reversible error. See Medina.
For the foregoing reasons, we quash the Fourth District's decision and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
SHAW, ANSTEAD, and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
PARIENTE, J., concurs with an opinion in which ANSTEAD, and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
WELLS, C.J., dissents with an opinion in which HARDING, J., concurs in part.
HARDING, J., dissents with an opinion in which WELLS, C.J., concurs.
. Section 627.727(6), Florida Statutes, was substantially changed in 1992 and no longer provides the authority for joinder of the uninsured/underinsured carrier in the same action with the tortfeasor. See, e.g., Young v. Ganese Dharamdass, 695 So.2d 828 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997).
. We recognize that Geico was not made a party in this case pursuant to section 627.727(6), Florida Statutes (1991); however, the parties agree that Geico was properly named as a defendant. Therefore, Geico's status as a proper party defendant is not an issue before this Court. In any event Geico's policy requires the insured to sue the tortfea-sor and Geico if the parties cannot agree to arbitrate. The insured may sue Geico if within 30 days after receipt of a settlement agreement Geico does not approve of the settlement, waive its subrogation rights, and agree to arbitrate the claim.
. We do not address the nonjoinder issue raised by amicus curiae since the issue was neither raised by the parties nor ruled on by the Fourth District.