14 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1100b
Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Personal injury protection — Proposal for settlement — Denial — Ambiguous proposal
KAREN AJOY, Appellant, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. Circuit Court, 15th Judicial Circuit (Appellate-Civil) in and for Palm Beach County. Case Nos. 502006AP000087XXXXMB, 502007CA00091XXXXMB (consolidated for all purposes). L.T. Case No. 502005SC0011668XXXXMBRL, Division ‘AY’. September 12, 2007. Appeal from the County Court in and for Palm Beach County, Judge Janice Brustares Keyser. Counsel: Jane Kreusler-Walsh and Rebecca Mercier Vargas, West Palm Beach; and Gary Russo, West Palm Beach, for Appellant. Hinda Klein, Hollywood; and Joseph Murasko, North Palm Beach, for Appellee.
(PER CURIAM.) AFFIRMED. Appellant’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees is DENIED. Appellee’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to Proposal for Settlement is DENIED. The Court finds Appellee’s Proposal for Settlement to be ambiguous. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.442. Appellee’s offer was to settle claims arising out of “the alleged treatment and billing alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint”(See, Defendant’s Offer of Judgment/Proposal for Settlement, dated January 19, 2006). This case, however, concerns the insured’s access to certain information and not a billing dispute. An invalid offer may not support an award of fees. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Nichols, 932 So. 2d 1067, 1078-79 (Fla. 2006); Dryden v. Pedemonti, 910 So. 2d 854, 857 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). (ROSENBERG, GERBER and WINIKOFF, JJ., concur.)
