EVANDER, J.
Southern Owners Insurance Company ("Southern Owners") appeals an amended summary final judgment declaring that certain policies of insurance issued by Southern Owners provided coverage to Daisy Eastwood for the claims brought against her by Margarita Fiallo, as personal representative of the Estate of Damian Fiallo. Because the undisputed material facts of record do not support the trial court's determination of coverage, we reverse.
Ms. Fiallo brought a wrongful death action against Daisy
The complaint filed by Ms. Fiallo further alleged Eastwood Community Association was a homeowners' association that owned or operated the swimming pool and, as such, had a duty to operate the pool in a reasonably safe manner. Eastwood Community Association was alleged to have breached that duty in numerous ways, thereby causing Damian's death.
At the time of the loss, Daisy was insured under a homeowner's insurance policy issued by Appellee, Cooperativa de Seguros Multiples de Puerto Rico ("Cooperativa"). After Ms. Fiallo filed her wrongful death action in the underlying case, Cooperativa retained counsel to defend Daisy. At the time of the loss, Eastwood Community Association was insured under two policies issued by Southern Owners; a comprehensive general liability policy and an umbrella policy. The policies included an endorsement that extended coverage to each individual member of the Association, "
After the commencement of the underlying action, Cooperativa and Daisy instituted a declaratory judgment action against Southern Owners seeking a determination that Southern Owners was required to defend and indemnify Daisy for the claim brought against her by Ms. Fiallo. Subsequently, Ms. Fiallo moved to intervene in the declaratory judgment action. When the motion to intervene was granted, Ms. Fiallo filed her own declaratory judgment
The parties agree that any potential liability Daisy may have in the underlying wrongful death action would not arise from the "maintenance" or "repair" of the swimming pool. Thus, the only issue is whether Daisy has potential liability arising from the "ownership" of the pool.
In its detailed order, the trial court correctly concluded that the phrase "arising out of" is broader in meaning than the term "caused by" and means "originating from, having its origin in, growing out of, flowing from, incident to, or having a connection with." Taurus Holdings, Inc. v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 913 So.2d 528, 532-33 (Fla.2005).
The trial court continued its analysis as follows:
If Daisy did, in fact, have an ownership interest in the Eastwood common areas, Appellees' argument would be stronger. However, as all parties acknowledged in their supplemental briefs, the record is extremely sparse on the issue of whether individual members of the Eastwood Community Association have any ownership interest in the community swimming pool.
In the instant case, the record is devoid of deeds, association articles of incorporation and/or bylaws, plats, declarations of covenants, or any other documents or evidence
Absent an ownership interest in the pool, Daisy would not be entitled to coverage under Southern Owners' policies because her potential liability would arise, at most, out of her "use" of the pool. Although the right to use property is an indicia of ownership, it does not equate to ownership. The primary elements of ownership are the rights of possession, use and enjoyment, the right to change or improve the property, and the right to alienate the property. Ill. Dep't of Transp. v. Anderson, 384 Ill.App.3d 309, 322 Ill.Dec. 869, 892 N.E.2d 116, 120 (2008). Because it is unclear from the record whether Daisy had an ownership interest in the community pool, we conclude that it was error to enter summary judgment in favor of Appellees.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
ORFINGER, J., concurs.
SAWAYA, J., concurs in part, dissents in part, with opinion.
SAWAYA, J., concurring in part; dissenting in part.
I agree with the majority that the summary judgment rendered in favor of the Appellees in the declaratory judgment action should be reversed. But the majority remands the case to the trial court, apparently for the purpose of allowing the parties to establish whether Daisy Eastwood (the alleged tortfeasor and additional individual insured under the policy endorsement) has an ownership interest in the property. I do not believe that is the controlling issue in this case and, therefore, I respectfully dissent from that part of the opinion. I believe that the issue in this appeal is whether the personal act of Eastwood's alleged negligent supervision of the child who drowned in the pool is covered under the provisions of the policy endorsement, which will be discussed shortly. It clearly is not, and a remand to the trial court should only be for the purpose of entering summary judgment in favor of the Appellant.
Coverage does not exist under the policy endorsement because it only provides coverage for the individual members of the association, like Eastwood, for "liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance or repair" of the premises. This coverage is for premises liability, which insures against damage or injury arising out of a dangerous condition on the premises. Eastwood is accused of an act of personal negligence in failing to properly supervise the child who drowned, which has nothing to do with a dangerous condition on the premises, and the parties do not contend otherwise.
The endorsement was issued as a part of a Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy that, like the typical commercial
This declaratory judgment action was filed against the issuer of the CGL and the endorsement, Southern Owners Insurance Company (Southern), and was considered in conjunction with a wrongful death action initiated by the personal representative of the deceased child (the Estate). The wrongful death action was filed against Eastwood, the individual insured, the Eastwood Community Association (the Association), which is also an insured under
The deceased child is Damian. Eastwood invited him to the pool to play with her son. Tragically, Damian drowned. The sole allegation against Eastwood in the underlying wrongful death action is that she negligently supervised Damian. There is absolutely nothing in the record to suggest that the drowning was caused by a dangerous condition on the premises.
After the wrongful death action was filed, Eastwood and Cooperativa filed the declaratory judgment action seeking to declare that the CGL policy endorsement issued by Southern to the Association provides coverage to Eastwood individually and personally for the alleged wrongful death of the child. At the time, Cooperativa was providing the defense for Eastwood pursuant to the homeowners policy it had issued to her. The Estate intervened in the action, also seeking to have Southern placed on the hook for coverage and indemnity in the wrongful death action filed against Eastwood. Motions for summary judgment were filed by the parties on each side. The trial court granted the motion filed by Eastwood and Cooperativa and denied the motion filed by Southern. Southern appeals, arguing that the summary judgment should be reversed and this case remanded for entry of summary judgment in its favor.
The basis of the declaratory judgment action is an endorsement issued by Southern that includes the members of the Association as additional insureds under limited circumstances. That endorsement provides:
(Emphasis added). The provisions of the endorsement that are pertinent to the issue in this case are underscored.
The issue in this case is whether there is coverage under this endorsement for Eastwood's personal act of negligent supervision, and "coverage under an insurance contract is defined by the language and terms of the policy." Swire Pac. Holdings, Inc. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 845 So.2d 161, 169 (Fla.2003) (citing Siegle v. Progressive Consumers Ins. Co., 788 So.2d 355, 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)). "In interpreting an insurance contract, we are bound by the plain meaning of the contract's text." State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Menendez, 70 So.3d 566, 569 (Fla.2011); see also
The endorsement specifically provides coverage for "liability arising out of ownership, maintenance, or repair ... of the premises." The plain meaning of this provision clearly reveals that the endorsement provides premises liability coverage only for loss that results from a dangerous condition on the premises. The majority correctly states that "ownership" means the right to possess the property, to change or improve it, and to alienate it. Indeed, the courts have repeatedly held that ownership requires the owner to comply with the duty to properly maintain and repair the premises and warn invitees of known dangerous conditions on the premises. Friedrich v. Fetterman & Assocs., P.A., 137 So.3d 362 (Fla.2013); Dampier v. Morgan Tire & Auto, LLC, 82 So.3d 204 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012); Aaron v. Palatka Mall, L.L.C., 908 So.2d 574 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). The term "maintenance" means "the work of keeping something in suitable condition." Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary 717 (1984 ed.). The term "repair" means "to restore to sound condition after damage or injury." Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary 996 (1984 ed.); see also Siegle, 788 So.2d at 360 (stating that "repair" means "restore to a good condition" (quoting The Merriam Webster Dictionary 410 (1994 ed.))). I believe that the plain meaning of the terms and provisions of the endorsement is that it provides premises liability coverage for the owner regarding dangerous conditions on the premises that cause injury. See Union Am. Ins. Co. v. Haitian Refugee Ctr./Sant Refijie Ayisyin, Inc., 858 So.2d 1076, 1078 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003); Hilton Hotels Corp. v. Emp'rs Ins. of Wausau, 629 So.2d 1064, 1065 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (holding that one of the reasons a policy providing coverage for liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or repair of the premises did not provide coverage for the alleged loss is because "[t]he accident was not a result of any physical condition which emanated from the premises ..."); Parliament Ins. Co. v. Bryant, 380 So.2d 1088, 1089-90 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980) (analyzing a policy that provided coverage for injuries "`arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the insured premises,'" and stating that "it is evident that that the policy we are examining is a premises liability policy, not a general liability policy ..."). Therefore, it does not provide coverage for Eastwood's personal act of negligent supervision of the child.
In Union American, the court was confronted with a CGL policy that provided coverage for "`bodily injury ... arising out of [t]he ownership, maintenance or use of the premises shown in the [s]chedule and operations necessary or incidental to those premises.'" Union Am. Ins. Co., 858 So.2d at 1077. That policy differs from the endorsement in the instant case because it provided coverage for injury arising from the "use of the premises" and to "operations necessary or incidental to those premises," which are not included in the endorsement in the instant case. But both policies do provide for coverage for loss arising out of the ownership of the premises. The court in Union American held that the policy provision essentially made the policy a "designated premises policy," which meant that the injury must have occurred on the premises and resulted
Id.
Rather than consider all of the pertinent provisions of the endorsement, the trial court and the analysis in the majority opinion erroneously focus solely on the term "ownership" in isolation.
When proper consideration is given to all of the pertinent provisions, it becomes clear that the endorsement does not provide coverage in this case. The complaint
These principles extend beyond the confines of Florida jurisprudence, as the authors in Couch on Insurance explain:
9A Steven Plitt et al., Couch on Insurance § 129:2 (3d ed. 2013) (footnote omitted). In Stempel on Insurance Contracts, the author similarly explains:
2 Jeffrey W. Stempel, Stempel on Insurance Contracts § 14.01[B] at 14-17 (3d ed. Supp. 2010); see also Kennedy v. Lumbermans Mut. Cas. Co., 152 Misc.2d 491, 577 N.Y.S.2d 353, 354 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1991) ("Looking at the overall scheme of the policy and the exclusion in particular, the policy is a homeowner's policy and intends to cover only the home and domestic related activities. This is not a `business' policy, and the carrier wishes to make sure that it is not forced to cover business activities. The policy holder has, of course, not paid for business coverage."), affirmed as modified on other grounds, 190 A.D.2d 1053, 593 N.Y.S.2d 659 (1993).
Considering the policy as a whole, it is clear that it provides coverage that is limited to business conducted on the premises. The definition of "insureds" in Section II of the policy specifically provides that if you are designated as an individual insured, "you and your spouse are insureds,