15 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 106b
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Default entered against insurer
USA NEURO THERAPY & REHAB GROUP, INC. (a/a/o Leone Petit-Frere), Plaintiff, vs. UNITED AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County. Case No. 06-14905 COCE 53. October 23, 2007. Robert W. Lee, Judge. Counsel: Paul S. Adams, Fort Lauderdale, for Plaintiff. Munir Barakat, Miami, for Defendant.
ORDER OF DEFAULT
THIS CAUSE came before the Court for consideration of the Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment, and the Court’s having reviewed the Motion and entire Court file; reviewed the relevant legal authorities; and been sufficiently advised in the premises, the Court finds as follows:
Background: By Order of the Court dated April 5, 2007, the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss was denied. Since then, however, the Defendant has not filed a response to the Complaint. On October 10, 2007, the Plaintiff served its Motion for Default Judgment due to Defendant’s failure to respond to the Complaint. As of today, the Defendant still has not filed a responsive pleading.
In its Motion for Entry of Default, the Plaintiff provided notice to Defendant’s counsel that it was seeking a default. The Court has provided the Defendant a reasonable amount of time to respond to the Motion for Default, but the Defendant has continued to fail to file a response.
Conclusions of Law: By failing to file a response in this action, the Plaintiff is entitled to a default. By participating in the case prior to the amending of the complaint, the Defendant was entitled to notice when the Plaintiff sought a default. The Plaintiff did so. Nevertheless, the Defendant has continued to fail to file the required pleading. Merely participating in a case, without responding to the complaint, is not sufficient to avoid entry of a default. Additionally, by the Plaintiff’s serving its Motion, the Defendant has been provided a de facto extension to respond, but has continued to fail to do so. Moreover, the Court has delayed entry of this Order to provide the Defendant a reasonable amount of time to respond to the Motion for Default, to no avail. As a result, the Plaintiff is entitled to a default, and no hearing is required. See Picchi v. Barnett Bank of South Florida, 521 So.2d 1090, 1090-91 (Fla. 1988); Mondeja v. Cuevas, 583 So.2d 1115, 1116 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991); Rule 1.500(b), Fla. R. Civ. P. Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that a DEFAULT is hereby entered against the Defendant in this action. The Plaintiff may file its affidavit of indebtedness in support of its request for a final judgment.
