Volume 22

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 516a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2205BERMInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Good faith offer — Error to place burden on insurer to prove that its nominal offer for settlement was made in good faith, rather than requiring medical provider to prove that offer was not made in good faith — Where benefits were exhausted at time insurer made nominal offer, trial court abused its discretion by finding that there was lack of evidence that insurer had reasonable basis for offer

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 788a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2207DIETInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement that allocates half of proposed settlement amount to PIP claim and half to attorney’s fees was not invalid joint offer — Error to deny motion for entitlement to attorney’s fees and costs

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 999a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2209PAZInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Trial court erred in awarding medical provider prevailing party attorney’s fees pursuant to section 627.428 where judgment obtained after jury trial was less than insurer’s presuit offer — Trial court erred in adding prejudgment interest that accrued after settlement offer to jury’s award to conclude that final judgment exceeded presuit settlement offer

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 687a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2206OLIVInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Trial court erred in awarding provider prevailing party attorney’s fees pursuant to section 627.428 where judgment obtained after jury trial was less than insurer’s presuit settlement offer — Statute applies to presuit offers of settlement — Insurer was not required to include attorney’s fees in its presuit offer, as plaintiff was not entitled to attorney’s fees for work done prior to filing of lawsuit unless insurer’s unreasonable conduct necessitated the work, a circumstance not present in instant case

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 519a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2205LECOInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Medical providers were not prevailing parties entitled to attorney’s fees award pursuant to section 627.428 when they obtained judgments no better than amounts offered by insurer in response to presuit demand letters — Neither failure to comply with proposal for settlement statute and rule 1.442 nor failure to provide explanation of benefits invalidates settlement offers — Attorney’s fees award is vacated

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1137a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2210JCOOInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Confession of judgment — Where insurer made one payment to medical provider on day suit was filed and final full payment after suit was filed, trial court did not err in finding that payments constituted confession of judgment — Insurer’s confession of judgment defeats its argument that provider lacked standing due to invalid assignment

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 749c

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2206WESTInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Justiciable issues — Where by end of 21-day safe harbor period medical provider could have determined that insurer was entitled to reimburse bills in accordance with statutory fee schedule by reference to policy language provided by insurer and that provider had received check for full amount due, motion for attorney’s fees is granted — Motion for attorney’s fees filed after expiration of safe harbor period but before provider filed voluntary dismissal was timely filed — Section 57.105 does not require that motion for attorney’s fees be filed immediately after expiration of safe harbor period

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 713a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2206TAMPInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Claim or defense not supported by material facts or applicable law — Medical provider that refused to withdraw claim after acknowledging that claim was paid in full and policy limits were exhausted is liable for attorney’s fees under section 57.105

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 756c

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2206MILAInsurance — Attorney’s fees — Justiciable issues — Where defendant created confusion as to which subsidiary issued policy at issue by intertwining names of subsidiaries and parent company, and medical provider timely sought to amend complaint to name correct insurer within 21-day safe harbor period, insurer’s motion for sanctions is stricken — Because defendant insurer and correct insurer are separate and distinct corporate entities, provider cannot amend complaint to name correct insurer, but must refile suit

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 838a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2207SIMMInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Confession of judgment — Payment of benefits in excess of $2,500 emergency medical condition limitation upon receipt of determination of emergency medical condition after suit was filed constitutes confession of judgment entitling medical provider to award of attorney’s fees and costs — If insurer was in doubt as to existence of emergency medical condition upon receipt of notice of loss that did not contain emergency medical condition determination, it was incumbent upon insurer to make request for additional information under section 627.736(6)(b) — Where insurer that did not receive emergency medical condition determination with notice of loss failed to timely pay benefits in excess of $2,500 limit without making request for additional information, and instead obtained unauthorized peer review determining that insured did not have emergency medical condition, provider was authorized to file suit for balance of bill after submitting pre-suit demand letter — No merit to insurer’s arguments that 30-day payment deadline did not begin to run for expenses over $2,500 until provider submitted emergency medical condition determination during course of litigation or that suit was premature