Volume 22

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 263b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2202PREVInsurance — Personal injury protection — Declaratory action — Attorney’s fees — Plaintiff who prevailed in declaratory action challenging rental car company’s denial of PIP coverage for injuries sustained while driving rental car is entitled to award of attorney’s fees and costs — It is immaterial that plaintiff did not actually recover insurance proceeds in case where rental car company has been ordered to make PIP benefits available to her

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1169a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2210ANDEInsurance — 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 MRI provider to award of attorney’s fees and costs — No merit to argument that statute requires that emergency medical condition determination be submitted as part of duty to provide insurer with notice of covered loss — Explanation of benefits denying coverage after exhaustion of $2,500 in benefits and suggesting that provider supply additional information regarding emergency medical condition to support additional reimbursement decisions did not constitute valid request for additional information under section 627.736(6)(b) and did not toll time for payment of bill or impose requirement for MRI provider to obtain emergency medical condition determination from another provider before being entitled to reimbursement

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 718a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2206GUTIInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Amount

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 610b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2205HUFFInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 435a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2204ECKEInsurance — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Offer of judgment statute is not applicable to action in which plaintiffs seek both declaratory relief and damages and in which insurer has served general proposal for settlement that seeks release of all claims

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1064a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2209SCHRInsurance — Attorney’s fees — Claim or defense not supported by material facts or applicable law — Fact that medical provider voluntarily dismissed case prior to hearing on insurer’s motion for summary judgment alleging that assignment of benefits was defective and did not confer standing on provider does not entitle insurer to attorney’s fees under section 57.105 where there is case law on both sides of standing issue — Notwithstanding use of word “shall” in statute, statute does not mandate awarding of fees until movant proves that losing party or its attorney knew or should have known that claim or defense was not supported by material facts or applicable law and was not initially presented to court as good faith argument for extension, modification, or establishment of new law with reasonable expectation of success

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 983a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2209MCMEInsurance — Attorney’s fees — Trial court properly found that owner of vehicle covered by vehicle service contract was not entitled to recover, pursuant to section 627.428, attorney’s fees incurred in declaratory judgment action owner filed against insurer that backed the service contract after warrantor denied owner’s claim — Owner was not omnibus insured under policy because he was required to establish liability on part of warrantor in order to recover under policy — As third-party beneficiary of contract between warrantor and insurer, vehicle owner was required to demonstrate that warrantor’s denial of claim was wrongful, and terms of release signed upon settlement of action clearly stated that neither warrantor nor insurer admitted any liability with regard to the claims made by vehicle owner

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 947b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2208GETIInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Amount — Hours — Time spent preparing pleadings that were simultaneously filed in multiple PIP cases is prorated across cases — Expert witness fees and costs awarded

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 944a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2208FORMInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Time spent litigating entitlement to fees — Although insurer may have intended its actions in engaging in settlement negotiations over amount of attorney’s fees and costs to reflect a stipulation as to medical provider’s entitlement to fees and costs, where insurer failed to clearly and unequivocally communicate that intent to provider, provider is entitled to fees and costs for all time spent litigating entitlement to fees

22 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 1028a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2209STATInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Medical provider’s motion to tax attorney’s fees and costs for discovery requests is denied — Insurer’s requests for information regarding ownership of provider’s clinics were timely and permissible inquiries into lawfulness of services rendered irrespective of whether benefits had already been paid or exhausted