Insurer Must Pay for Florida Rental Car Crash by Unauthorized Driver

A Florida rental car customer’s auto insurer must cover crash injuries, even though the driver was someone not authorized under the rental car company’s contact. In a 5-2 opinion on Nov. 23, the Florida Supreme Court overturned a district court ruling and reaffirmed its own earlier rulings that a rental car contract may not restrict the insured’s auto coverage. The majority ruled in the Gadsden County case that the rental car was covered by Katusha Shazier’s insurance policy because the rental car was a “temporary substitute auto” and the accident occurred when the car was being driven by someone to whom she had given permission.