HARCO V. HAMMOND AND HAMMOND, ET AL

State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 10-2594

Case Date: 04/20/2011

Preview:Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida, January Term, A.D. 2011
Opinion filed April 20, 2011. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D10-2594 Lower Tribunal No. 09-49350 ________________

Harco National Insurance Company,
Appellant, vs.

Adrienne D. Hammond, individually, and Ian J.N. Hammond and Alan R. Hammond, as Personal Representatives of the Estate of Robert F. Hammond, deceased,
Appellees.

An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Peter Adrien, Judge. McFarlane Dolan & Barnett, and William J. McFarlane, and L. Kenneth Barnett, (Coral Springs); Schindel, Farman, Lipsius, Gardner, Rabinovich, and Ira S. Lipsius (New York), for appellant. Babbit, Johnson, Osborne & LeClainche, and Joseph R. Johnson, and Joseph Osborne; Burlington and Rockenback, and Bard D. Rockenback, for appellees. Before WELLS, SALTER, and EMAS, JJ. EMAS, J.

Harco National Insurance Company ("Harco") appeals an order granting partial summary judgment and declaratory relief in favor of Appellees ("the Hammonds"), and denying Harco's cross-motion for summary judgment, finding that the umbrella insurance policy at issue provides coverage for the Hammonds' claims. For the reasons which follow, we reverse. The plaintiffs below were involved in a motor vehicle accident in 2008 when they collided with a freightliner truck driven by Humberto Brito ("Brito").1 At the time of the accident, Brito was engaged in normal business activities for his employer, Tiles and Stones, Inc. ("Tiles and Stones"), who leased the freightliner truck from Blue Water Holdings-Doral, Inc. ("Gator"). Gator had two insurance policies with Harco that were in effect on the date of the accident-a primary policy with a limit of $1 million, and an umbrella policy with a limit of $20 million. Harco paid out to the Hammonds the $1 million limit of Gator's primary policy, acknowledging that Tiles and Stones was covered under that policy.2 Harco

contested the Hammonds' claim that the umbrella policy provided coverage to Tiles and Stones and Brito, maintaining that the umbrella policy was written only for the protection of its insured, Gator. The relevant Harco policy language provides:

1

Mrs. Hammond suffered serious injuries in the accident and her husband died from his injuries. 2 The primary policy is not at issue in this appeal. 2

Section II

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