10 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 477d
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Reimbursement by insurer of commercial vehicle — Where insured of PIP carrier was injured in accident while driving sedan owned by his employer and insured through commercial motor vehicle policy, PIP carrier was not entitled to reimbursement of PIP benefits paid pursuant to section 627.7405, which allows for reimbursement to PIP carriers of private passenger vehicles by insurer of commercial motor vehicles involved in an accident — Under statutory definition, sedan is private passenger vehicle regardless of use
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, INC., Appellant, v. CLARENDON NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. Circuit Court, 13th Judicial Circuit (Appellate) in and for Hillsborough County. Case No. 02-9512. Division X. L.C. Case No. 01-17968-CC. May 22, 2003. Perry A. Little, Judge. Review of a final order of the County Ct., Hillsborough County. Counsel: Jennifer Mandelbaum, Tampa, for Appellant. Elaine Seymour, Tampa, for Appellee.
Appellant State Farm challenges a decision of the County Court that it was not entitled to reimbursement of amounts paid on behalf of its insured pursuant to section 627.7405, Florida Statutes, because the car the insured was driving was not a commercial vehicle under the definition of the statute. We affirm the trial court’s decision.
On or about July 15, 1999, Donald Murphy, a State Farm insured, was involved in an automobile accident while driving a 1998 Ford Taurus owned by his employer, DeSoto Ford, and insured by his employer through a commercial motor vehicle policy. State Farm paid medical bills to $10,000.00 pursuant to Murphy’s personal injury protection (PIP) policy. State Farm filed suit to seek reimbursement for those benefits paid pursuant to section 627.7405, Florida Statutes, which allows for reimbursement to PIP carriers of private passenger vehicles by the insurer of a commercial motor vehicle involved in an accident. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment. Appellant argued that the car was owned by DeSoto and insured by DeSoto with a commercial motor vehicle policy and used for work-related purposes. Clarendon argued that the car was not, by statutory definition, a commercial vehicle. The trial court granted Clarendon’s motion, and State Farm filed this timely appeal.
Appellant contends that the trial court erred because a commercial motor vehicle policy covered the car that was involved in the subject accident, and that a commercial motor vehicle is defined by its use rather than its shape and size, according to the legislative history of the relevant statute. Appellee contends that the trial court was correct in its determination that the subject vehicle was a private passenger vehicle and that the statute is clear and unambiguous. We agree.
The material facts are not in dispute. The dispute concerns the application of section 627.7405, Florida Statutes, which provides for reimbursement to an insured’s PIP insurer in situations involving a commercial vehicle. The case turns on whether the Ford that State Farm’s insured was driving meets the definition of a commercial vehicle.
We first cast off common notions of what constitutes a commercial vehicle because the defining statute is clear. Section 627.732(3) provides:
(a) A “private passenger motor vehicle,” which is any motor vehicle which is a sedan, station wagon, or Jeep-type vehicle and, if not used primarily for occupational, professional or business purposes, a motor vehicle of the pick-up, panel, van, camper, or motor home type.
(b) A “commercial motor vehicle,” which is any motor vehicle which is not a private passenger motor vehicle.
Section 627.7405, Florida Statutes provides:
. . . Any insurer providing personal injury protection benefits on a private passenger motor vehicle shall have, to the extent of any personal injury protection benefits paid to any person as a benefit arising out of such private passenger motor vehicle insurance, a right of reimbursement against the owner or the insurer of the owner of a commercial motor vehicle. . . § 627.7405, Fla. Stat. (2002) (emphasis added).
Under the facts of this case, the vehicle in question is a sedan, and pursuant to Florida law it is a private passenger motor vehicle, regardless of use. Even if the definition of a commercial vehicle were defined by use rather than by type, the facts of this case are not persuasive that the vehicle in question was a commercial vehicle. In any event, the law is unambiguous, and this Court cannot re-write it. Because the law is clear, a review of legislative history is unnecessary. The decision of the trial court is AFFIRMED. (Baumann and Holder, JJ., concur.)
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