Volume 5

5 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 506c

Appeals — Court has jurisdiction to hear appeal from order granting summary judgment where order also determined party’s entitlement to arbitration — Insurance — Arbitration — Remand for further proceedings in light of intervening decision not available to trial court

5 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 63a

Insurance — Loss payable clause — Where insured purchased automobile from plaintiff and obtained comprehensive coverage on vehicle naming plaintiff as loss payee; hybrid type of loss payee clause in policy provided that insurer waived its defenses as to loss payee unless loss resulted from principal insured’s conversion, secretion or embezzlement of collateral; and insurer did not allege any such defenses, hybrid clause will be given same effect as standard clause — Loss payee under standard clause is entitled to be paid, even if policy is void ab initio as to first party insured because of misrepresentations made by first party insured in procuring policy — Section 627.409 cannot be construed to mean that misrepresentations in application void entire contract in loss payee situations, because it would render standard clauses worthless in the industry — Error to grant summary judgment in favor of insurer on plaintiff/loss payee’s claim which arose when vehicle was destroyed by fire of accidental origin

5 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 427b

Insurance — Indemnity — Insurer’s appeal of judgment entered in favor of insurance agency in agency’s third party action seeking contribution and indemnification for judgment entered against it in an action by insureds to recover deposit paid to procure vehicle insurance which was subsequently cancelled because of premium dispute — Because insurer provided insurance coverage to insureds until actual cancellation of policy, insureds received a benefit, and insurer is entitled to be compensated to the extent of that benefit — Error to enter judgment in favor of agency in full amount of insureds’ deposit, plus costs — On remand, court should make determination regarding length of time insureds were provided with coverage as well as value/cost of such coverage

5 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 76a

Torts — Fraud — Insurance agent — Punitive damages — Reasonable basis for punitive damages exists where plaintiff alleged that defendant, acting as its agent, caused a lapsed commercial automobile insurance policy to be reinstated by falsely assuring plaintiff that insured had incurred no losses during period insurance had lapsed — Plaintiff sufficiently alleged that defendant fraudulently concealed loss with purpose of realizing a profit by receiving a commission upon reinstatement of policy — Plaintiff alleged defendant was acting in fiduciary capacity at time of alleged concealment — Information allegedly concealed by defendant was material where plaintiff would not have reinstated policy had it known of accident — Allegations of complaint provide circumstantial evidence of intent or purpose, so that reasonable basis exists for award of punitive damages