Volume 11

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 754a

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 858a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Demand letter — New subsection (11)(a) of section 627.736, which went into effect August 1, 2003, requires written demand letter for unpaid bills for treatment after August 1, 2003, even where those unpaid bills are for treatment that arose out of original injury and for which there was proper lawsuit filed before August 1, 2003, seeking payment for unpaid bills incurred prior to August 1, 2003, for same injury — Summary judgment granted in favor of insurer

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 858a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Demand letter — Medical provider was required to provide insurer written demand letter for additional unpaid bills prior to amending complaint to seek payment for those bills — Partial summary judgment granted in favor of insurer

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 726a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Insurer paying charges for one date of treatment after receipt of demand letter but not paying statutory penalty and postal costs — Demand letter which stated name of provider, name of insured, policy number, and that no-fault benefits were due with attached patient ledger listing all dates of treatment is legally sufficient notice of claims, notwithstanding insurer’s argument that patient ledger does not list type of services rendered — Postal costs and statutory penalty awarded

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 873d

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Default — Vacation — Excusable neglect — Abuse of discretion to deny motion to vacate default entered for medical provider’s failure to appear at pre-trial conference where affidavits filed in support of motion demonstrated excusable neglect

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1053a

Declaratory judgments — Insurance — Personal injury protection — Action seeking declaration that insurer must provide copy of wife’s insurance policy to husband who is named insured and filed PIP suit on behalf of son — Error to grant motion to dismiss petition for declaratory decree on grounds that complete copy of policy was provided to petitioner when coverage was issued, petitioner could get copy from insurance agent, or petitioner could have filed motion to compel in PIP case instead of declaratory judgment action where all three arguments went outside four corners of petition — Further, two of insurer’s arguments were affirmative defenses that cannot be considered in ruling on motion to dismiss — Case or controversy between parties did exist where plaintiff sought declaration that he had legal right to receive copy of policy which insurer continually refused or failed to provide — Reversed and remanded

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 583a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Declaratory judgment — Summary judgment is granted in favor of provider/assignee whose bill was denied due to exhaustion of policy benefits in declaratory judgment action seeking declaration that provider is entitled to receive PIP payout log, declarations page, and copy of policy — Standing — Assignment — Equitable assignment — Where medical provider provided emergency treatment and transport to insured, and insured deteriorated significantly en route to hospital and died eight days later without executing assignment of benefits in favor of provider, equitable assignment was created

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 934a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Confession of judgment — Where medical provider filed suit for PIP benefits and declaratory relief and, after production of PIP payout log in response to discovery, discovered it had mistakenly filed suit for benefits that had already been timely paid and voluntarily dismissed count alleging nonpayment of benefits, production of PIP payout log was not confession of judgment entitling provider to award of attorney’s fees and costs — Declaratory judgments — Standing — Assignment — Provider/assignee that has been paid in full no longer retains rights under assignment and lacks standing to seek declaratory relief

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 344b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — PIP policy does not afford coverage to plaintiff who was not named insured under policy or resident relative of named insureds but was named as “listed driver” on declarations page of policy, and who was owner of vehicle registered in state for which PIP coverage was mandated — Summary judgment entered in favor of insurer

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 405a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Passenger injured in rental vehicle

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 404b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Summary judgment — Factual issue — Error to grant summary judgment in favor of plaintiff on issue of liability where accident report which fails to indicate that plaintiff was passenger in vehicle at time of accident created genuine issue of material fact — Accident report privilege does not render report inadmissible where report was written by investigating officer, not persons involved in accident, and does not reflect statements made by plaintiff — Accident report, having been drafted by officer, is self-authenticating — Appeals — Absence of transcript — Where appellate court has dispositive accident report, it has enough record to determine that reversal is required despite absence of transcript