Allstate Ins. Co. v. Durham

In Allstate Ins. Co. v. Durham, 838 So. 2d 1254, 1256 (Fla.App. 2003), the insureds initially had UM coverage, but at a later policy renewal, they rejected UM coverage in writing. After a few years of renewals, they added a fifth car to their policy and due to its computer system limitations, Allstate placed the fifth car on a separate declarations page with a separate policy number. Allstate did not obtain a written rejection of UM coverage for the additional, fifth vehicle. The insureds also did not pay a UM premium for any of the vehicles in their policy. One of the insureds was injured by an uninsured motorist while driving one of the cars listed on the original policy declarations page. Allstate denied UM coverage based on the insureds' earlier written rejection of UM coverage. The insureds argued that they were entitled to UM coverage by operation of law because of the failure to obtain a written rejection of UM at the time the fifth car was added. The court noted the Florida statute which provided that a new rejection of UM coverage is not required where a policy change simply "renews, extends, changes, supersedes, or replaces an existing policy" where the insured has previously rejected UM coverage. 838 So. 2d at 1256. The court concluded that the addition of the fifth car, while on a separate declarations page and with a separate policy number, was in fact part of the original policy so that under the statute, a second UM rejection was not required. Id. at 1257.