## Facts

- Elizabeth Reiff Bussey sued Frances Ruth Bennett Shingleton in Florida circuit court for negligence arising from an automobile collision.
- Bussey joined Shingleton’s automobile liability insurer, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, as a defendant at the outset.
- The policy contained a non-joinder clause requiring a judgment against the insured before any action against the insurer.
- The trial court dismissed Nationwide based on the non-joinder clause and prevailing authority.
- Bussey appealed, asserting she was a third-party beneficiary and that procedural rules permitted joinder of the insurer as a real party in interest.

## Issues

1. Whether an injured third party in an automobile negligence action may directly sue or join the tortfeasor’s liability insurer despite a policy non-joinder provision.
2. Whether Florida public policy and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure permit treating automobile liability policies as contracts benefiting injured members of the public for joinder purposes.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s reversal of the insurer’s dismissal.
- The Court held that an injured person has a direct cause of action in motor vehicle liability coverage cases against the insurer as a third-party beneficiary under prevailing Florida public policy.
- The Court approved construing automobile liability policies as quasi–third-party-beneficiary contracts permitting joinder of the insurer as a party defendant.
- The Court concluded the insurer’s substantial stake in the litigation made joinder consistent with procedural rules on real parties in interest, notwithstanding contractual non-joinder language.
- The Court recognized conflict with earlier Florida decisions rejecting direct actions against insurers, but found later changes in law and policy justified departing from those cases in this context.

## Legal Principles

- In Florida motor vehicle liability coverage cases, injured members of the public may be treated as quasi–third-party beneficiaries of the liability policy.
- Prevailing public policy may support recognizing a direct cause of action by an injured third party against the liability insurer.
- An insurer with a substantial interest in the defense and payment of claims against its insured may be joined as a real party in interest under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
- Contractual non-joinder provisions in liability policies may yield when they conflict with public policy favoring compensation of injured persons and efficient resolution of related disputes.

## Conclusion

The Florida Supreme Court held that an injured motorist may join the alleged tortfeasor’s automobile liability insurer as a defendant despite policy non-joinder provisions, based on public policy recognizing injured persons as beneficiaries of liability coverage and procedural rules permitting joinder of parties with a substantial interest in the outcome.


Shingleton v. Bussey, 223 So. 2d 713 (Fla. 1969)