8 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 608b
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Insurer was not required to have report authored by a physician in order to reduce payments to a medical provider — Remand for new trial
ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. MASSILON PIERRE-LUDERS, Appellee. Circuit Court, 15th Judicial Circuit (Appellate) in and for Palm Beach County, Civil Division. Case No. AP 99-8994 AY. Opinion filed July 16, 2001. Appeal from Jeffrey Colbath, J., County Court in and for Palm Beach County. Counsel: Richard A. Sherman, West Palm Beach, for Appellant. Steven Keroff, West Palm Beach, for Appellee.
(PER CURIAM.) The trial court entered Final Judgement in favor of Appellee based on its belief that an insurer is required to have a report authored by a physician in order to reduce payments to a medical provider.
At the time that the learned judge made this decision, he did not have the benefit of several recent decisions from the Fourth District which hold that such a medical report is not required for an insurer to reduce payments to a medical provider. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Schall, 778 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Allstate Indemnity Co. v. Derius, 773 So. 2d 1190 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000).
This case is reversed and remanded for a new trial. Additionally, Appellee’s motion for attorney’s fees is denied.
REVERSED & REMANDED. (BARKDULL, RAPP AND BLANC, JJ., concur.)
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