Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Golf cart speed
Thread: Golf cart speed
View Single Post
 
Old 11-30-2010, 09:21 PM
bimmertl bimmertl is offline
Veteran member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 848
Thanks: 272
Thanked 181 Times in 79 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by EdVinMass View Post
You are completely missing the point here. It’s not the fact that modifications were made to the golf cart that can be the basis for denial of coverage. It’s the fact that the vehicle was altered in such a way that it no longer meets Florida’s definition of a golf cart (regardless of what the bill of sale says it is). Here’s the definition:

FS 320.01(22) “Golf cart” means a motor vehicle that is designed and manufactured for operation on a golf course for sporting or recreational purposes and that is not capable of exceeding speeds of 20 miles per hour.

So if you alter your vehicle in such a way (whether you informed them or not), your golf cart insurance policy is no longer valid any more than your automobile policy would be for a vehicle that turned out to actually be a tractor trailer.

And as further evidence, I submit that the Sheriff’s department is regularly issuing tickets here to those owners of those altered carts for “driving an unregistered motor vehicle” and it’s being upheld in the courts. So likewise, an insurance adjuster will deny a claim for such a vehicle in the blink of an eye.
The "Florida definition of a golf cart" is not relevant to the insurance definition of a golf cart. It's still a golf cart under the policy. It merely is not a golf cart that qualifies as a low speed vehicle under the Florida motor vehicle statutes. Florida could define a golf cart going over 20mph as a high speed train, but that doesn't affect the policy language.

The insurance policy defines the parameters of the coverage under the insurance policy and the Florida statutory language doesn't exist in the insurance policy. The insured and insurer are bound by the language in the insurance policy, not the statutory definition of the state.

Obviously this is way beyond your limited knowledge and understanding of contractual and insurance law.