ANNE C. CONWAY, District Judge.
This cause comes before the Court for consideration of Plaintiff AIG Premier Insurance Company's ("AIG") Amended Motion
This is a declaratory judgment action arising out of an insurance coverage dispute. The parties do not dispute the following facts. Scott Philip Johnson filed a Complaint in the Circuit Court of Volusia County, Florida seeking damages for bodily injuries suffered when his motorcycle collided with a vehicle operated by Kenneth Johnson. (Doc. No. 21 ¶ 5; Doc. No. 25 ¶ 1.) At the time of the accident, Kenneth Johnson maintained a primary automobile liability insurance policy issued by Geico, which provided bodily injury liability limits of $300,000.00. (Doc. No. 21 ¶ 6; Doc. No. 25 ¶ 2.) Additionally, Kenneth Johnson maintained (1) a "Personal Umbrella Liability Policy" issued by RLI (the "RLI Policy"), which provided $1,000,000.00 of coverage in excess of the underlying automobile policy limits and (2) a "Group Personal Umbrella" policy issued by AIG to the Partners and Principals of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (the "AIG Policy"), which provided $5,000,000.00 of coverage in excess of the underlying automobile policy limits.
Both the AIG Policy and RLI Policy are denominated "Umbrella Policies" and contain excess "other insurance" clauses. (Doc. Nos. 31-1 & 39-2.) AIG filed a Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory Relief to obtain a judgment declaring that AIG has no duty to contribute any coverage and thus no duty to reimburse RLI. (Doc. No. 21.) In its counterclaim for declaratory relief, RLI seeks a judgment declaring that the RLI and AIG policies are "mutually repugnant" and must contribute on a pro rata basis according to their respective policy limits, such that AIG must reimburse RLI in the amount of $375,000.00. (Doc. No. 25.) Alternatively, in its sur-reply RLI argues that under Florida law the mutual repugnancy rule does not apply and its policy should provide coverage only after AIG's policy limits are exhausted. (Doc. No. 56.) The "mutual repugnancy" rule is summarized as follows:
Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 386 F.Supp.2d 1272, 1278 (S.D.Fla.2005) (citations and quotations omitted). Therefore, the Court must determine whether the AIG and RLI policies are mutually repugnant, such that RLI and AIG must fund the remaining $450,000.00 on a pro rata basis, or whether either the RLI or AIG policy must be exhausted first.
Before the court grants summary judgment, the movant must show "that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a). The Court draws all inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant and resolves all reasonable doubt in the non-movant's favor. Porter v. Ray, 461 F.3d 1315, 1320 (11th Cir.2006). This standard is not changed by cross motions for summary judgment. See Ernie Haire Ford, Inc. v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 541 F.Supp.2d 1295, 1297 (M.D.Fla.2008) (citations and quotations omitted). Finally, "[s]ummary judgment is appropriate in declaratory judgment actions seeking a declaration of coverage when the insurer's duty, if any, rests solely on the applicability of the insurance policy, the construction and effect of which is a matter of law." Id.
The parties dispute whether the court should apply Florida law or New York law to resolve this issue.
RLI contends that the last act to execute both the RLI Policy and the AIG Policy occurred in Florida. (Doc. No. 38 p. 4.) Conversely, AIG contends that New York law governs the AIG Policy. (Doc. No. 37 p. 6.) AIG does not argue that New York law governs the interpretation of the RLI Policy. Instead, AIG argues that RLI does not establish that its policy was executed in Florida. (Doc. No. 45 p. 19.)
AIG submits the affidavit of Anna Brusco, an AIG policy underwriter, who avers that the AIG Policy "was issued and delivered in New York to named insured, Price Waterhouse Coopers, L.L.P." and that the binder for the AIG Policy "was issued in the state of New York prior to issuance of the final version of the policy, which ... was also issued in New York." (Doc. Nos. 32 & 44.) Thus, the affidavit establishes that the "last act" necessary to execute the AIG Policy occurred in New York. As discussed below, the arguments advanced by RLI to establish Florida as the place of execution of the AIG Policy are not persuasive.
RLI primarily relies on the affidavit of Kenneth Johnson as evidence that the AIG Policy was delivered in Florida. Kenneth Johnson avers that the "Certificate of Insurance Declarations for the AIG policy was delivered to me at my permanent address in Florida." (Doc. No. 50-1 ¶ 6.) However, "[i]t is well-settled that a certificate of insurance is not part of an insurance contract" and thus does not bear on the court's choice of law determination.
RLI also argues the "last act" occurred in Florida because the AIG Policy required Kenneth Johnson to procure underlying personal automobile insurance, and he obtained it through Geico in Florida. (Doc. No. 38 p. 22.) For support, RLI relies on Fioretti v. Mass. Gen. Life Ins. Co, in which the Eleventh Circuit reasoned that the insured's execution of a Statement of Good Health constituted the "last act" necessary to complete a life insurance policy. 53 F.3d 1228, 1236 (11th Cir.1995). However, the insurance company expressly conditioned its approval of the insured's application on the execution of the Statement of Good Health, and the parties mutually agreed that it constituted the last act. Id. While the AIG Policy required underlying limits, RLI does not demonstrate, legally or factually, that Kenneth Johnson's procurement of the Geico Policy constituted the "last act."
Additionally, RLI contends that the rigid application of the lex loci contractus doctrine does not effectively address group insurance policies, which "present unique issues because of the fact that certificates of insurance are often issued to numerous
Similarly, Kenneth Johnson's affidavit demonstrates that the RLI Policy was executed in Florida.
Despite the fact that New York law governs the AIG Policy and Florida law governs the RLI Policy, if no conflict exists between two bodies of law the court does not need to make a choice of law determination. See Scott v. Prudential Sec., Inc., 141 F.3d 1007, 1012 (11th Cir.1998). "A conflict of law exists when two or more states have legitimate interests in a particular set of facts in litigation, and the laws of those states differ or would produce different results in the case." Walker v. Paradise Grand Hotel, Ltd., No. 01-3564, 2003 WL 21361662, at *1 (S.D.Fla. Apr. 25, 2003) (citing Fioretti, 53 F.3d at 1234). "A `false conflict' exists where the laws of the interested jurisdictions are (1) the same; (2) different but would produce the same outcome under the facts of the case; or, (3) when the policies of one jurisdiction would be furthered by the application of its laws while the policies of the other jurisdiction would not be advanced by the application of its laws." Chapman v. DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., 760 F.Supp.2d 1310, 1313 n. 3 (M.D.Fla.2011) (citing Tune v. Philip Morris Inc., 766 So.2d 350, 352 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)).
In both Florida and New York, where two insurance policies covering the same loss contain "other insurance" clauses stating that the policy will be excess over other collectible insurance, the "other insurance" clauses cancel each other out and each company must share in the cost of the settlement on a pro rata basis. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Exec. Car & Truck Leasing, Inc., 494 So.2d 487, 489 (Fla. 1986); Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 51 N.Y.2d 651, 435 N.Y.S.2d 953, 417 N.E.2d 66, 68 (1980). In New York, however, the ratable contribution rule does not apply if "its use would effectively deny and clearly distort the plain meaning of the terms of the policies." Lumbermens, 435 N.Y.S.2d 953, 417 N.E.2d at 68. In Florida, courts have not explicitly recognized this exception. See, e.g., Am. Cas. Co. of Reading Penn. v. Health Care Indemn., Inc., 613 F.Supp.2d 1310, 1319 (M.D.Fla.2009) ("To this Court's
According to AIG, under both Florida and New York law, the language of its "other insurance" clause indicates that its policy is excess to other excess policies, such that the AIG and RLI policies are not mutually repugnant and RLI must exhaust its policy limits before AIG contributes to the settlement amount. The "other insurance" clause of the AIG Policy provides that
(Doc. No. 39-2 p. 31) (emphasis added). RLI argues that by applying Florida or New York law, the Court should find that either (1) the competing "other insurance" clauses are mutually repugnant or (2) the language of RLI's "other insurance" clause renders its policy "super excess" to the AIG Policy.
(Doc. No. 31-1 p. 13) (emphasis added). As discussed below, pursuant to either Florida or New York law, the "other insurance" clauses are mutually repugnant and the parties are liable for a pro rata share of the settlement determined by the policy limits in relation to the loss.
In New York, the rule of ratable contribution does not apply if "its use would effectively deny and clearly distort the plain meaning of the terms of the policies of insurance." Lumbermens, 435 N.Y.S.2d 953, 417 N.E.2d at 68. "Whether there will be such distortion turns on consideration of the purpose each policy was intended to serve as evidenced by both its stated coverage and the premium paid for it, as well as upon the wording of its provision concerning excess insurance." State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. LiMauro, 65 N.Y.2d 369, 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d 13, 17 (1985) (citations omitted). In sum,
Id., 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d at 18 (citations omitted). For the reasons set forth below, neither party demonstrates that the ratable contribution rule would "clearly distort" the terms of its policy.
First, neither "other insurance" clause expressly contemplates that another policy could provide coverage in excess of its coverage.
AIG argues that because the mutual repugnancy rule applies where two policies "generally purport to be excess to the other," it should not take effect because the "other insurance clause" in AIG's policy specifically declares it is excess over other excess coverage — as opposed to the "other insurance" clause in RLI's policy which only generally purports to be excess over all other excess policies. (Doc. No. 45 p. 8.) However, the New York Court of Appeals has "rejected as an exercise in `meaningless semantics' the efforts to determine which among policies covering the risk which occurred is the more specific." LiMauro, 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d at 16 (citations omitted). For example, in LiMauro the court declined to distinguish between an "other insurance" clause describing a policy as excess to "other collectible insurance" from an "other insurance" clause specifying that it was excess
Id., 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d at 19 (quoting Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 575 F.2d 1070, 1073-73 (3d Cir.1978)) (subordinating a policy issued as primary automobile insurance, which was applicable to a particular loss only because of its nonowned "excess" coverage, to a catastrophe or umbrella policy covering many different types of risk, but none of them on a primary basis).
Furthermore, the Court should only depart from the ratable contribution rule when it would "distort the meaning of the terms of the policies involved ... [considering] the purpose each policy was intended to serve as evidenced by both its stated coverage and the premium paid for it." LiMauro, 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d at 17. One factor indicating the intent to be "excess over other excess policies," is "the fact that a policy is issued as `umbrella' or `catastrophe' coverage, at rates which reflect the reduced risk insured." Id., 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d at 18. While, neither AIG nor RLI address their policies' premium rates, both policies are denominated "umbrella policies."
The court's conclusion does not change with respect to Florida law. In Florida, "where two or more policies that apparently cover the same loss both contain excess `other insurance' provisions, the clauses are deemed `mutually repugnant.'" Keenan Hopkins Schmidt and Stowell Contractors, Inc. v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 653 F.Supp.2d 1255, 1263 (M.D.Fla.2009). Unlike New York, courts in Florida do not explicitly recognize that departure from the ratable contribution rule is proper when it would "clearly distort" the plain meaning of the policies. At least one court in Florida declined to distinguish between two primary policies with similar "other insurance" clauses on the basis that one policy was "super excess" to the other. See, e.g., Am. Cas. Co., 613 F.Supp.2d at 1319 ("To this Court's knowledge, Florida law does not recognize a `super excess' other insurance clause.").
AIG argues that it would not contravene public policy to find one excess clause excess to all other excess insurance, because Florida courts enforce escape clauses providing for no coverage at all in the event of other collectible insurance. See Towne Realty, Inc. v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 854 F.2d 1264, 1268 (11th Cir.1988) ("The Florida courts have, on several occasions, recognized that this type of `escape clause' generally precludes any finding that an insurer is primarily liable if there is other collectible insurance."). However, the Florida Supreme Court has held that when two policies "contain an `other insurance' clause which states that [the policies] will be excess over other collectible insurance[,] [t]he `other insurance' clauses in the respective policies cancel each other out." Allstate Ins. Co., 494 So.2d at 489. In order to enforce AIG's "other insurance" clause, the court would have to ignore RLI's "other insurance" clause. Because "[o]ne insurance company may not attempt to rewrite the policy of another insurance company," the court will not depart from the ratable contribution rule. Allstate Ins. Co. v. TIG Ins. Co., 711 So.2d 84, 86 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998).
AIG and RLI are liable for a pro rata share of the settlement determined by their policy limits in relation to the loss. Allstate Ins. Co., 494 So.2d at 489; LiMauro, 492 N.Y.S.2d 534, 482 N.E.2d at 17. Because the limits of the AIG Policy were $5,000,000.00 and the limits of the RLI Policy were $1,000,000.00, the portion of the $450,000.00 settlement payment properly allocated to AIG is $375,000.00 and the portion of the settlement payment properly allocated to RLI is $75,000.00. Therefore, AIG must reimburse AIG in the amount of $375,000.00.
Based on the foregoing, it is ORDERED as follows:
1. RLI Insurance Company's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 38), filed on January 18, 2011, is GRANTED.
2. AIG Premier Insurance Company's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 37), filed on November 18, 2010, is DENIED.
3. The Clerk shall enter a final judgment providing as follows: The Court hereby declares that (1) the RLI Insurance Company and AIG Premier Insurance Company policies provide coverage on a pro-rata basis according to their respective policy limits and (2) AIG Premier Insurance Company must reimburse RLI
4. The Clerk shall close this case.