11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 893a
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Assignment — Validity — Trial court correctly concluded that document that only authorizes direct payment to medical provider and does not transfer right or benefits under PIP policy is not assignment of benefits
LIGHTHOUSE ORTHOPAEDIC ASSOCIATES, P.A. (a/a/o Kylee Treyz), Appellant, vs. PROGRESSIVE EXPRESS INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. Circuit Court, 17th Judicial Circuit (Appellate) in and for Broward County. Case No. 03-21464 (12). L.T. Case No. 03-9553 (53). July 26, 2004. Dorian Damoorgian, Judge. Counsel: Robert C. Buschel, for Appellant. L. Kenneth Barnett, Barnett & Barnard, P.A., Hollywood, for Appellee.
[Lower court order published at 11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 152b.]
OPINION
Appellant, Lighthouse Orthopaedic Associates, P.A., (“LOA”), appeals the entry of a final order of dismissal with prejudice in favor of the Appellee, Progressive Express Insurance Co. (“Progressive”). The applicable standard of review is de novo. Syvrud v. Today Real Estate, Inc., 858 So. 2d 1125 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003).
By the way of background, Kylee Treyz was insured by Progressive with personal injury protection coverage. After a motor vehicle accident, she received treatment from LOA. While seeking for treatment, Ms. Treyz executed a “Lighthouse Orthopaedic Associates, P.A. — Patient Consent & Authorization form.” The form included the following language: “Assignment of Benefits: I hereby assign payment directly to the physician(s). . . .”
Thereafter, LOA submitted to Progressive the bills for payment. Progressive did not pay and LOA consequently filed suit for breach of the insurance policy under Section 627. 736, Fla. Stat. (2002).
On theses undisputed facts, Progressive filed a motion for judgment on the pleading asserting lack of standing on the ground that the document failed to properly execute an assignment of benefit from Kylee Tretz to LOA. The trial court granted the motion for judgment on the pleading and entered a final judgment in favor of Progressive.
A legal assignment is a “transfer or setting over of property or of some right or interest therein from one person to another. It is the act by which one person transfers to another or causes to vest in another his right to property or interest therein.” State Farm Fire v. Ray, 556 So. 2d 811 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990).
A document that only assigns payments and not rights or benefits is not an assignment but an authorization for direct payment. See Physician Injury Center v. Progressive Express Insurance Co., 9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 169a (Cir. Ct. App. Divn., 13th Cir. January 17, 2002); Wallace v. Omni Insurance Co., 5 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 284b (Cir. Ct., App. Divn., 6th Cir., Feb. 2, 1998).
In the present case, the language of the document at issue only authorizes direct payment from the insurance company to the medical provider. It does not transfer rights or benefits under the insurance policy. As a result, the lower court correctly concluded that it is not an assignment of benefits.
Accordingly, the final judgment is affirmed.
* * *
