Opinion ID: 1797279
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Heading: Case Law on Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Text: The principal decision of this Court on uninsured motorist coverage, and the decision upon which the district court primarily relied, is Mullis v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 252 So.2d 229 (Fla. 1971). In Mullis, the minor son of Shelby Mullis was injured by an uninsured motorist while the son was operating a motorcycle owned by Mullis' wife. The policy issued to Mullis by State Farm provided liability and uninsured motorist coverage to Mullis and his resident relatives, but excluded coverage for accidents involving vehicles, such as the motorcycle, that were owned by Mullis or a resident relative and not insured under the policy. In Mullis, the issue was whether an insurer could exclude an insured from uninsured motorist coverage based on the vehicle the insured was operating at the time of the accident. The policy exclusion was found to be unenforceable under the particular facts of that case. In reaching that decision, the Mullis Court characterized the uninsured motorist coverage prescribed by statute [2] as the reciprocal of the liability coverage mandated by chapter 324, Florida Statutes, the Financial Responsibility Law. The Mullis Court tied mandatory uninsured motorist coverage to liability coverage and determined that the scope and availability of uninsured motorist coverage must mirror the scope and availability of liability coverage in automobile policies issued in this state. Recently, in Valiant Insurance Co. v. Webster, 567 So.2d 408 (Fla. 1990), we reaffirmed the principle that uninsured motorist coverage is the reciprocal of the liability coverage provided in an automobile insurance policy and clarified our holding in Mullis. In Valiant, the son of the policyholder was killed while riding as a passenger in a vehicle owned and operated by an uninsured motorist. Under the policy issued by Valiant Insurance Company, the father and resident relatives of his household were covered for liability and uninsured motorist protection. At the time of the accident the son and his mother were not living with the father; however, the mother, as personal representative of the son's estate, petitioned the trial court to compel her former husband's insurer to arbitrate the claim under the uninsured motorist provisions in the policy. We held that, because the decedent's son was not a resident relative of his father at the time of the accident, the liability coverage of his father would not apply to the accident, and neither the mother nor the father was entitled to claim uninsured motorist coverage for the son's death. In Valiant we construed Mullis and noted that after the Mullis decision the courts have consistently followed the principle that if the liability portions of an insurance policy would be applicable to a particular accident, the uninsured motorist provisions would likewise be applicable; whereas, if the liability provisions did not apply to a given accident, the uninsured motorist provisions of that policy would also not apply (except with respect to occupants of the insured automobile). Valiant, 567 So.2d at 410 (emphasis added). At least two district court of appeal decisions have denied coverage in factual circumstances similar to the situation in the instant case. In Bolin v. Massachusetts Bay Insurance Co., 518 So.2d 393 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), James Bolin was injured by an uninsured motorist while Bolin was operating his own vehicle, and he attempted to collect uninsured motorist benefits under a policy issued to his wife. As in the instant case, that policy specifically excluded coverage whenever the husband was injured while operating his own vehicle. Bolin argued that, because he was insured under the basic liability coverage section of the policy, the exclusion was invalid as a matter of law. The court found that the husband was not an insured under the liability coverage provisions when he was operating his own vehicle and, therefore, he could be excluded from uninsured motorist coverage. Bolin, 518 So.2d at 394. In Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Wright, 543 So.2d 1320 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 551 So.2d 464 (Fla. 1989), the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a daughter living in her mother's household was not entitled to uninsured motorist coverage under the mother's insurance policy for injuries that the daughter received while driving her own automobile, which was not covered by the policy. The district court explained that, because the daughter was not covered under the liability provisions of the mother's policy, the limitations on policy restrictions for [uninsured motorist] coverage contained in [ Mullis ] are not applicable, and concluded that the exclusion in the mother's policy was enforceable. Wright, 543 So.2d at 1321. The court, in explaining its decision, stated: Wright [the daughter] contends that, as a resident relative in the Hull [the mother] household, she was entitled to liability coverage under the Hull policy and thus to [uninsured motorist] coverage. If the premise regarding liability coverage were correct, we could agree with Wright. However, that premise is erroneous because the liability provisions of the policy expressly excluded Wright in these circumstances because she was not injured in an owned or non-owned vehicle. Contrary to Wright's contention that Mullis prevents application of the exclusion present here, simply because Wright was a resident relative and, as such, would have had coverage under the Hull policy, we hold Mullis to be inapposite. Whereas Wright would have been covered had she been injured while riding in Hull's automobile, the policy of insurance did not extend to all manner of unknown automobiles owned by Hull's relatives. Were it otherwise, the insurer could never determine its exposure in order to arrive at the appropriate premium to charge for Hull's policy. Id. at 1321-22. The district court expressly found that Mullis did not apply. On the other hand, the Fifth District Court of Appeal, in Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Phillips, 609 So.2d 1385 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992), review granted, 620 So.2d 761 (Fla. 1993), held that the husband, who was injured by an uninsured motorist while operating his own vehicle, was entitled to uninsured motorist coverage under a policy issued to his wife. The district court reached this decision despite policy language that specifically excluded the husband from coverage while operating his own vehicle. The district court based its decision on Mullis and rejected the liability coverage analysis used in Wright and Bolin.