DARRIN P. GAYLES, District Judge.
The primary issue in this action is whether Plaintiff Gold Coast Property Management Inc. ("Plaintiff") may be compelled to arbitrate its insurance coverage dispute under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the "New York Convention").
On November 28, 2016, USI Insurance Services, Inc. ("USI"), Plaintiff's insurance agent, tendered a submission for placement of Plaintiff's property insurance to AmRisc, LLC ("AmRisc"), an insurance administrator. USI had dealt with AmRisc for other clients in the past and was aware that AmRisc utilized the AR Compass 01 15 Form, which contained the arbitration provision at issue in this action. Pursuant to USI's submission, AmRisc provided eight successive quotes to USI for Plaintiff's property insurance. In the body of each quote, AmRisc noted that [a]ll coverages are as per the standard forms and endorsement in use by AmRisc, LLC at the time of binding, unless otherwise noted." [ECF No. 42, Ex. A, ¶ 12].
On February 24, 2017, USI requested that coverage be bound per the terms of the last quote. Included in the request were a commercial insurance application (the "Application"), an AmRisc property application and statement of values, a disclosure notice of terrorism insurance coverage, a flood notice, and a surplus lines disclosure and acknowledgment (the "Surplus Lines Disclosure"), all signed by Plaintiff's manager, William M. Murray. [ECF No. 42-1, at 97-99, 101-102].
The Policy contains the following arbitration provision:
Policy, at 26, [ECF No. 42-1].
In addition, the Policy contains a Service of Suit Clause endorsement which provides in pertinent part:
[ECF No. 30-2]. The Service of Suit Clause endorsement notes that "[t]his endorsement changes the Policy" and instructs parties to "please read it carefully." Id.
After Hurricane Irma hit South Florida, Plaintiff submitted a claim under the Policy for losses to its property. Plaintiff contends that Defendants delayed in making a coverage determination. As a result, on July 26, 2018, Plaintiff filed a Complaint for Damages and Petition for Declaratory Judgment against Defendants in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida. [ECF No. 1-2]. On September 6, 2018, Underwriters, the only served defendant at the time, sent Plaintiff a demand for arbitration pursuant to the arbitration provision in the Policy.
On September 10, 2018, Underwriters removed the action to this Court asserting this Court has federal question jurisdiction because the arbitration provision in the Policy falls under the New York Convention. Underwriters then moved to compel arbitration and stay the proceedings.
Before addressing the Motion to Compel, the Court must ascertain whether it has jurisdiction over this action. See Ytech 180 Units Miami Beach Invs. LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London, 359 F.Supp.3d 1253, 1259 (S.D. Fla. 2019) ("federal courts must `first assure themselves of their jurisdiction by deciding whether the agreement-in-writing requirement has been met' before `enforcing an [arbitration] agreement or confirming an award under the Convention.'" (quoting Czariza, L.L.C. v. W.F. Poe Syndicate, 358 F.3d 1286, 1291 (11th Cir. 2004))).
The New York Convention requires contracting states to recognize and enforce foreign arbitration agreements. Escobar v. Celebration Cruise Operator, Inc., 805 F.3d 1279, 1284 (11th Cir. 2015) (citing the New York Convention). The Convention Act
The parties do not dispute that this action—an insurance dispute—relates to the arbitration provision in the Policy. Accordingly, the Court's only inquiry in determining jurisdiction is whether the notice of removal and attached pleadings sufficiently describe an arbitration agreement that "falls under the Convention." Id. To make this determination, the Court considers whether Defendants have
Id. (citing Bautista v. Star Cruises, 396 F.3d 1289, 1295-96 n.7 & 9 (11th Cir. 2005)). Here, the parties only dispute the first jurisdictional prerequisite—whether there is an agreement in writing signed by the parties.
Upon review of the Notice of Removal and pleadings, the Court finds that Defendants have established a non-frivolous claim that the Policy constitutes a signed written agreement to arbitrate. Plaintiff argues that there is no signed agreement to arbitrate because the Policy itself is not signed. The Court disagrees. Plaintiff, via its manager, signed the Application. Under Florida law, an insurance contract is "construed according to the entirety of its terms and conditions as set forth in the policy and as amplified, extended, or modified by any application therefor or any rider or endorsement thereto." Fla. Stat. § 627.419(1) (emphasis added). In addition, "[t]he application. . . becomes part of the agreement between the parties and the policy together with the application form the contract of insurance." Matthews v. Ranger Ins. Co., 281 So.2d 345, 348 (Fla. 1973). See also Zenith Ins. Co. v. Commercial Forming Corp., 850 So.2d 568, 570 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (holding that application becomes part of the policy). As a result, the Court finds that Plaintiff's signature on the Application, via its manager, which became a part of the Policy, is sufficient to constitute a signature on a written agreement to arbitrate.
Accordingly, the Court finds that Defendants have met their burden of proof to establish that the lawsuit relates to an arbitration agreement that falls under the Convention such that this Court has jurisdiction.
Having found it has jurisdiction, the Court must now address the Motion to Compel. The Court's inquiry on a motion to compel arbitration, while limited, "is necessarily more rigorous than on a motion to remand because the district court must determine whether the parties before the court agreed to arbitrate their dispute." Outokumpu, 902 F.3d at 1325. However, the same prerequisites apply. See Bautista, 396 F.3d at 1294 (motion to compel arbitration must be granted if the four jurisdictional prerequisites are met). As detailed above, the only jurisdictional prerequisite in dispute is whether there is a written agreement to arbitrate signed by the parties.
The Court has already determined that there is a signed agreement. Plaintiff, however, attempts to bypass the signed agreement by arguing that (1) it had no knowledge of the arbitration provision and (2) the Policy's Service of Suit clause supersedes the arbitration provision or renders it ambiguous. The Court disagrees.
First, Plaintiff argues that it was unaware of the arbitration provision in the Policy and, therefore, never agreed to arbitrate. Plaintiff's argument is without merit. In signing the Surplus Lines Disclosure Acknowledgement, Mr. Murphy acknowledged that he understood that "the policy forms [and] conditions . . . may be different from those policies utilized in the admitted market," and that he was "advised to carefully read the entire policy." [ECF No. 42-1, at 102]. Moreover, the binder issued on February 24, 2017, memorialized the policy form that would be used. This form, identical to the Policy, includes the arbitration provision. Plaintiff cannot now contend that it was unaware of the arbitration provision. See Bautista, 396 F.3d at 1300-01 (arbitration clause in employment contracts upheld where plaintiffs argue they were not provided official notice of the agreement to arbitrate); Open Sea Inv., S.A. v. Credit Agricole Corporate and Inv. Bank, No. 17-22366, 2018 WL 1120902, *(S.D. Fla. Jan. 12, 2018) (finding first jurisdictional prerequisite under the New York Convention met where plaintiff signed an application which incorporated by reference an agreement containing an arbitration provision"); Doe v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 365 F.Supp.2d 1259, 1262 (S.D. Fla. 2005) (court ordered arbitration even though plaintiff claimed she could not recall signing an agreement with an arbitration clause).
Plaintiff also contends that the Policy's Service of Suit Clause supersedes the arbitration provision or renders it ambiguous. The Court disagrees.
Under Florida law, "[a]n ambiguity exists only where contractual terms cannot be reconciled." Lloyds Underwriters v. Netterstrom, 17 So.3d 732, 735 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (citing Deni Assocs. of Fla., Inc. v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., 711 So.2d 1135, 1139 (Fla.1998)). "[W]here the terms can be reconciled, the clear language of the contract controls." Id. Moreover, "[w]hen a contract contains apparently conflicting clauses, [the Court] must interpret it in a manner that would reconcile the conflicting clauses, if possible." Id.
Here, the Court reads the Policy's Service of Suit Clause and the arbitration provision as compatible. The Policy mandates arbitration and the Service of Suit Clause merely provides a means for the parties to go to court to either compel arbitration or enforce an arbitration award.
Accordingly, the Court finds that all of the jurisdictional prerequisites to compel arbitration have been met and this action must proceed in arbitration.
Based on the foregoing, it is