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Ruben v. Southeastern Fidelity Ins. Co.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Feb 4, 1982
408 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1982)

Opinion

No. 81-470.

January 5, 1982. Rehearing Denied February 4, 1982.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, Donald E. Stone, J.

Daniels Hicks, Plezner, Schwedock, Finkelstein Klausner, and Patrice Talisman, Miami, for appellant.

McClure Gay and Robert J. Reid and Murray Lee Gay, Jr., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

Before SCHWARTZ, BASKIN and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.


We affirm the judgment entered by the trial court declaring that the appellant was excluded from coverage under a policy issued by the appellee to its insured, Toyota Auto Sales. Appellant's claim for coverage under the uninsured motorist section of the policy is that he (concededly, neither an insured nor a designated insured) was a person injured by an uninsured motorist while occupying Toyota's "insured highway vehicle." But under the policy, an "insured highway vehicle" is unambiguously defined as a vehicle to which "bodily liability coverage applies." Because the liability section of the policy, permissibly, see Castillo v. Bickley, 363 So.2d 792 (Fla. 1978), excludes independent contractors; and the appellant admittedly occupied the insured vehicle as an agent of a repair garage, an independent contractor, not as an agent of the insured; the appellant was not occupying an "insured highway vehicle," as defined, and was not, therefore, entitled to uninsured motorist coverage.

Affirmed.


Summaries of

Ruben v. Southeastern Fidelity Ins. Co.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Feb 4, 1982
408 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1982)
Case details for

Ruben v. Southeastern Fidelity Ins. Co.

Case Details

Full title:MARK H. RUBEN, APPELLANT, v. SOUTHEASTERN FIDELITY INSURANCE COMPANY…

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Feb 4, 1982

Citations

408 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1982)