Volume 22

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 263a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2202NORTInsurance — Personal injury protection — Complaint — Amendment — Medical providers may not amend complaint to add additional dates of service where providers previously amended complaint and moved for summary judgment without asserting claim for additional service dates, and providers did not send pre-suit demand letter for additional service dates

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 365a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2203MILEInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Exhaustion of policy limits — Where insurer conducted no investigation to determine claim number missing from MRI provider’s bill, and evidence shows that insurer would have been able to locate claim number from information provided on bill within 30 days of receipt of bill had it conducted any investigation, insurer is liable for claim despite exhaustion of benefits — Insurer violated provider’s right to priority payment by denying bill without reasonable proof and continuing to make payments to other providers until benefits were exhausted — Fact that resubmitted bill with correct claim number was not resubmitted within 35 days was not legitimate basis for denying payment — 35-day requirement is not applicable to resubmitted bills

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 809a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2207GJOHInsurance — Personal injury protection — Small claims — Doctrine of de minimis non curat lex cannot be used to dismiss PIP claim in small claims court based on amount in controversy — Issue of whether trial court erred in going outside of four corners of complaint to consider amount in controversy stated in demand letter was not preserved for appeal by contemporaneous objection

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 807a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2207TUCKInsurance — Personal injury protection — Small claims — Doctrine of de minimis non curat lex cannot be used to dismiss PIP claim in small claims court based on amount in controversy — Issue of whether trial court erred in going outside of four corners of complaint to consider amount in controversy stated in demand letter was not preserved for appeal by contemporaneous objection

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 349a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2203ACCUInsurance — Personal injury protection — Med Pay — Individual and class action complaint against insurer for declaratory relief and breach of contract arising out of denial of payment based on assertion that emergency medical condition was not established for the injured insured and denial of payment for massage therapy and/or acupuncture — Action inappropriate for class action treatment where necessary and individualized questions associated with underlying claims will predominate — Class allegations stricken from amended complaint — Individual claims dismissed without prejudice to filing amended complaint — Claim for MedPay benefits cannot be asserted in any future amended complaint given plaintiff’s stipulation that it did not have standing to sue for these benefits

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 391a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2203KOVAInsurance — Personal injury protection — Affirmative defenses — Res judicata — Class action — Insurer is not entitled to summary judgment on affirmative defense of res judicata based on class action settlement where there is disputed issue of fact as to whether medical provider was given notice of proposed settlement, and notice, if given, was sent directly to represented provider without copy being sent to provider’s counsel — Even if notice and other elements of res judicata were established, doctrine will not be applied where totality of circumstances demonstrates that application of res judicata would defeat ends of justice — Provider’s lawsuit against insurer was pending well before resolution of class action lawsuit, and insurer never put provider on notice of pending class action and its potentially dispositive impact on provider’s case until after opt-out deadline for settlement had passed and final judgment had been entered in class action suit

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 296a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2203CITYInsurance — Personal injury protection — Reimbursement by insurer of commercial vehicle — Sedan is private passenger vehicle within meaning of PIP statute, notwithstanding that it was used as police vehicle

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 103b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2201FALCInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Owner of motor vehicle injured while driving leased vehicle — Where plaintiff was co-owner of vehicle covered by PIP policy, but was not named insured or relative of named insured, and plaintiff was injured while driving leased vehicle, plaintiff was excluded from coverage under his PIP policy by operation of section 627.736(1) and policy provisions — Defendant, self-insured car leasing company, is required to extend PIP coverage to plaintiff

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 676a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2206SCHOInsurance — Personal injury protection — Notice of loss — Disclosure and acknowledgment form — Trial court erred in entering summary judgment in favor of insurer on D&A form defense — Submission of form is not condition precedent to payment of PIP benefits — Exhaustion of policy limits — Insurer’s reliance on then-existing legal authority regarding D&A form requirement to deny claim, which ultimately resulted in exhaustion of benefits, cannot be considered bad faith

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1065b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2209DURAInsurance — Personal injury protection — Voluntary dismissal entered by mistake is vacated