FIREMAN'S FUND INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Appellant,
v.
LEVINE & PARTNERS, P.A., a Florida Professional Association, Appellee.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
*1187 Byrd and Murphy and James O. Murphy, Jr. (Fort Lauderdale), for appellant.
Manuel F. Fente and Robert J. Levine, Miami, for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and LEVY and FLETCHER, JJ.
SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.
The defendant carrier appeals from a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff insured, a Miami-Dade county law firm, in an action on an Employee Dishonesty Optional Coverage endorsement to a comprehensive policy of insurance issued to the firm. The endorsement provided coverage for up to $50,000 in losses caused by defalcations of key employees, including its longtime and long trusted bookkeeper, a Ms. Stewart. It is undisputed that Ms. Stewart embezzled a great deal of money from the firm during the late 1990's. It is also undisputed, however, both that the coverage period of the endorsement ended on June 30, 1999 and that Ms. Stewart's dishonesty was not discovered by the firm until October 2001. Because the claim in question was therefore indisputably barred under the provision of the endorsement that
We will pay only for covered loss discovered within 90 days after the end of the coverage period or cancellation date of this insurance.
we reverse the judgment below.
No more need be said or cited in support of this conclusion than the familiar rule that, in common with all contracts, an insurance policy must be enforced in accordance with its unambiguous terms, Siegle v. Progressive Consumers Ins. Co.,
Moreover, no possible "exception" to this abiding principle applies here. First, contrary to the trial judge's view, there is nothing contrary to any known "public policy" in the controlling provision, which is common to fidelity policies of this kind. Southeast Bakery Feeds, Inc. v. Ranger Ins. Co.,
Second, because the terms of an endorsement such as the one sued upon control over anything purportedly to the contrary in any other insuring agreement, Steuart Petroleum Co., Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London,
Finally, the clause has no effect on the applicable statute of limitations for bringing suit on the policy and therefore is not barred by section 95.03, Florida Statutes (2001)("Any provision in a contract fixing the period of time within which an action arising out of the contract may be begun at a time less than that provided by the applicable statute of limitations is void."). See Independent Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Nixon,
For these reasons, the summary judgment is reversed with directions to enter one for the carrier.
Reversed.
NOTES
Notes
[1] Indeed, the insured's attempts to develop some analogy or conflict between the terms of this fidelity policy and the "occurrence" or "claims made" provisions of a liability policy, see Gulf Ins. Co. v. Dolan, Fertig & Curtis,
