20 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1000b
Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2010SPEInsurance — Personal injury protection — Plaintiff granted leave to amend complaint to correct name of defendant — Leave to amend was sought in timely manner, and amendment will result in no prejudice to defendant
ROOSEVELT REHAB AND CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC A/A/O PATRICIA SPENCER, Plaintiff, v. USAA CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 4th Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County. Case No. 16-2011-CC-014105-XXXX-MA (F). December 19, 2012. Honorable James A. Ruth, Judge. Counsel: Adam Saben, Shuster & Saben, Miami, for Plaintiff. Philip McCormick, Herssein Law Group, Tampa, for Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTIONTO AMEND COMPLAINT and DENYINGDEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR FINAL JUDGMENT
THIS MATTER having come before the Court for hearing on December 11, 2012, on Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend Complaint and Defendant’s Motion for Final Judgment, it is hereby ORDERED and ADJUDGED as follows:
1. Plaintiff seeks to amend its Complaint to correct the name of the Defendant from
USAA CASUALTY COMPANY to UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION.
2. This Court is cognizant of the public policy regarding the amending of pleadings by the parties, especially when such amendment is done early during the litigation of a case and when such amendment results in no prejudice to the non-moving party. See, Craig v. East Pasco Medical Center, 650 So.2d 179 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995) [20 Fla. L. Weekly D395b] (“the public policy of this state [is] to freely allow amendments so that cases may be resolved on the merits”).
3. In this case, Plaintiff provided documentation to the Court (that is not disputed by the Defendant) showing the home address between United Services Automobile Association and USAA Casualty Insurance Company is exactly the same; the administrative address is exactly the same; the mailing address is exactly the same; and, the contact person for PIP claims, Alan L. Bunge, is exactly the same.
4. The operative issues in this case show that UNITED STATES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION and USAA CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY are “sufficiently related”; and, that the Plaintiff moved to amend its Complaint in a timely manner as to cause no prejudice to the Defendant. This Court also relies on the recent Order of its sister Court in Moore Chiropractic Center, Inc. a/a/o Ashley Grinnel v. United Services Automobile Association, (Order of Clay County Judge Timothy R. Collins, case number 2012-SC-1078 dated November 30, 2012) [20 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 151a], wherein Judge Collins found for the Plaintiff on the same issue under virtually identical facts.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend Complaint is GRANTED and Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED.
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