Volume 13

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 157c

Insurance — Workers’ compensation — Filed rate doctrine — Action by insured against workers’ compensation carrier for demanding additional premiums dismissed — Insured must seek to exhaust administrative remedies under statute governing workers’ compensation insurance rates before seeking redress in courts

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 106a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Summary judgment — Where documents relied upon by insurer in support of motion for summary judgment are not sworn or certified, court cannot consider or rely upon them — Motion denied

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 501c

Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Personal injury protection — Proposal for settlement — Where prevailing insurer’s proposal for settlement for $100 was not made in bad faith, insurer is entitled to award of attorney’s fees and costs

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 181b

Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Personal injury protection — Proposal for settlement — Good faith — Although insurer’s $100 settlement offer was substantially less than amount claimed by medical provider and could not have included attorney’s fees and costs, where offer was served before provider’s counsel had expended substantial amount of time on case, and insurer possessed documents that demonstrated that insured’s benefits had been exhausted, provider failed to establish that offer was not made in good faith — Motion to enforce proposal for settlement and tax fees and costs granted

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 394c

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Depositions — Failure to attend — Sanctions — Where insurer’s litigation adjuster failed to appear for deposition regarding insurer’s claim for attorney’s fees awarded as sanction against medical provider in underlying PIP suit and failed to obtain protective order or provide any reason for non-appearance, and insurer’s counsel also failed to appear for deposition after numerous attempts by provider’s counsel to coordinate deposition, conduct is deliberate contumacious disregard for trial court’s authority and grounds for award of sanctions — Insurer’s motion for award of fees and costs is stricken

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 788a

Insurance — Automobile — Rescission — Return of premiums — Where insurer did not tender to premium finance company all premiums paid by insured, it did not effect common law rescission of insurance policy — Directed verdict in favor of insured affirmed

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 819a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Expert witnesses — Exclusion — Fraud on court — Expert witness for insurer is excluded and testimony is stricken where witness attempted to perpetrate fraud on court by submitting false information regarding number of IMEs performed, percentage of IMEs performed for defense, and amount of labor and expense that would be required to comply with discovery request for IMEs that expert had already been required to compile in another case involving same insurer, and insurer assisted expert in concealing information by representing to court that expert had never previously produced IMEs for discovery — Verdict is directed in favor of medical provider where, as result of striking testimony, there is insufficient evidence to support termination of benefits

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 839a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Venue — Forum non conveniens — Where medical provider’s only nexus with county where suit was filed is fact that insurer does business there, substantially all other aspects of case are elsewhere, motion to transfer venue is granted

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 511a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Venue — Forum non conveniens — Defendant’s motion to transfer venue granted — Medical provider’s forum of choice is suspect where the only nexus with county where suit was filed is fact that insurer does business there, and substantially all other aspects of case, including location of crash, residence of patient/assignor, location of treatment, and plaintiff’s offices and witnesses, are elsewhere — Forum shopping is viable concern since there is only one county judge to hear all civil cases in county in which suit was filed — Moreover, county is devoting substantial resources to address and resolve a very large number of cases whose only connection is that defendant’s insurance companies do business in the county

13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1021c

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Venue — Insurer’s motion to transfer venue is denied where nexus to county is established by location of medical provider’s residence, medical practice and corporation and fact that correspondence relating to claim was sent to and from county