Volume 11

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 747a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Assignment — Provider/assignee’s unopposed motion for partial summary judgment on assignment of benefits is granted — Reasonableness of charges — Provider’s motion for summary judgment on reasonableness of charges is granted where provider filed affidavit of billing expert in support of motion; insurer filed motions to continue and notices of taking depositions of provider’s owner, treating physician, records custodian, billing manager, and insured; insurer appeared at hearing without any opposing affidavits or other evidence, and insurer has not provided sufficient reason why court should continue hearing or justification for taking depositions in light of affidavit of billing expert who is only person qualified to testify on issue

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 729a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Assignment — Action against insurer by provider/assignee and insured — Where provider received valid assignment from insured, provider has standing to file suit but insured does not — Motion for summary judgment granted as to insured and denied as to provider

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 196b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Application — Misrepresentations — Where insured misrepresented self by failing to inform insurer that he was married and that wife was member of his household, nullification of policy with return of entire premium and denial of coverage was within discretion of insurer — Error to award summary judgment in favor of insured

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 936b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Assignment is valid and enforceable — Claim form — Countersignature — Insured is not required to countersign HCFA forms as condition precedent to insurer paying PIP benefits — Magnetic resonance imaging — Amount billed for MRI in excess of preset fee schedule does not relieve insurer from paying reimbursable amount — HCFA bill is valid notice of claim — Provider is entitled to summary disposition on issue of whether insured was involved in automobile accident where insured’s affidavit states he was involved in accident, and insurer has presented no evidence to reveal genuine issue of fact — Application — Misrepresentation — Materiality — No merit to claim that insured committed material misrepresentation where insurer has presented no evidence that additional premium would have been applicable to insured

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 796c

Insurance — Automobile — Summary judgment — Deposition filed prior to entry of partial summary judgment created genuine issue of material fact as to whether there was a material misrepresentation on insurance application, considering frequency of use of vehicle — Error to grant motion for partial summary judgment

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

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 96a

Insurance — Appeals — Timeliness — Where there was no order vacating first “agreed” summary judgment entered in case, but it is clear that first summary judgment was not truly agreed and therefore it was necessary to enter another summary judgment after hearing, appeal from second summary judgment is timely — Claims form — Countersignature — Dismissal for insured’s failure to countersign claim must be reversed where there was assignment of benefits obviating need for countersignature

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 890a

Insurance — Automobile — Action against insurer by insured who was involved in accident while driving neighbor’s vehicle, alleging insurer breached various requirements imposed upon insurer by statute and seeking specific performance based upon these alleged statutory violations — Appeals — Timeliness — Appeal filed more than five months after order granting insured’s motion to dismiss but within 30 days of actual dismissal of complaint was timely — Although insurer contended that dismissal should be affirmed because coverage for claim was excluded by policy provision, review of complaint and argument in trial court indicates that exclusion cited had no relevance to plaintiff’s claim and, in any event, trial court clearly ruled on motion without addressing coverage issue — Non-joinder statute not basis for upholding dismissal because statute, by its terms, applies only to third parties who are not insureds under the policy and does not apply to claim by insured predicated upon alleged breaches of statutory duties by the insurer under contract of insurance issued by it — No merit to insurer’s assertion that dismissal was appropriate because insured had not yet suffered actual monetary damages — Although at common law, there is no claim against insurer for breach of its contractual obligations absent money judgment against insured, in present litigation insured is asserting claim for breach of contract and specific performance based on insurer’s failure to conform to specific statutory requirements, and to deny insured the right to enforce the insurer’s obligations would be inconsistent with the policy behind these statutes — Error to grant motion to dismiss

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 412a

Insurance — Appeals — Petition seeking certiorari review of order denying motion to assess costs of allegedly burdensome discovery as condition precedent to compliance is denied in absence of showing of irreparable harm — Further, proper means for establishing burdensomeness of discovery request is through affidavit, which petitioner did not submit to trial court until motion for rehearing

11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 79b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Offer of judgment — Award of reasonable fees and costs to prevailing insurer was mandatory once entitlement was established under offer of judgment statute — Insureds were unable to show that trial court abused its discretion in awarding fees or failed to consider statutory factors in determining reasonableness of fee award since there was no transcript and no requirement that trial court set forth written findings as to criteria used in determining reasonableness of award