Teen Tragedy: Was Each Drink An “Occurrence”?

Personal Lines	Occurrence
Homeowners	Social Host Liability

Marqui Cook (Cook), Tiffany Oliver (Oliver), and Nikole Brown (Brown), all minors, attended a party at the Meek residence, which was covered by a homeowner’s policy from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The Meeks allegedly provided or permitted alcoholic beverages to be served to the minors at the party, which violated a state law. The minors became intoxicated, left the party in a car, and were involved in a severe car accident, which led to Cook and Oliver's deaths and serious injuries to Brown.

The personal representatives of Cook's and Oliver's estates filed a declaratory judgment action against Citizens and the Meeks, seeking a court order to interpret the term “occurrence” in the Citizens policy.

The estate representatives argued that the policy’s liability limit of $100,000 per occurrence applied to each alcoholic drink consumed by each of the deceased minors. They also claimed a separate $100,000 occurrence limit for the Meeks’ negligence in “allowing the minors to become intoxicated, and then to leave the Meek residence operating a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated state.”

Citizens disagreed, arguing that there was only one occurrence, the car crash. Both parties filed motions for judgment on the pleadings.

The trial court found that the complaint alleges multiple ‘occurrences’ within the policy, with each alcoholic beverage served or allowed to be served to Cook and Oliver at the Meek residence was considered a separate “occurrence” for which the Meeks and Citizens were liable. Citizens appealed.

In reviewing the trial court’s interpretation of the Citizens policy, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeals noted the liability portion of the policy provided, in relevant part:

COVERAGE E—PERSONAL LIABILITY

If a claim is made or a suit is brought against an insured for damages based on “bodily injury or “property damage” caused by an “occurrence” to which this coverage applies, we will:

1. Pay up to our limit of liability for the damages for which the “insured” is legally liable

 SECTION II—CONDITIONS

1. Limit of Liability

a. Our total liability under Coverage E for all damages resulting from any one “occurrence” will not be more than the Coverage E limit of liability shown in the Declarations.

This limit is the same regardless of the number of “insureds,” claims made or persons injured.

All “bodily injury” and “property damage” resulting from one accident or from continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions will be considered to be the result of one “occurrence.”

The policy defined an “occurrence” as an accident, which included continuous or repeated exposure to similar harmful conditions, leading to: a. ‘Bodily injury’ or b. ‘Property damage’ during the policy period. However, the policy did not provide a specific definition for the term “accident.”

The appellate court stated that the trial court misinterpreted rulings from two prior cases when determining that each drink given to the deceased minor was a separate incident. Based on this, and considering the Citizens policy wording, the appellate court concluded there was only one occurrence—the car crash. It reversed the trial court’s judgment.

Citizens Property Ins. Corp. vs. Cook-No. 5D11-1555-District Court of Appeals of Florida, Fifth District-July 20, 2012-37 Fla. L. Weekly D1726