Volume 28

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 555a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2806SANT

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Depositions — Motion for protective order barring medical provider from deposing insurer’s corporate representative is granted where deposition testimony is not necessary to adjudicate issues of deficient demand letter and improper unbundling of CPT codes

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 553b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2806WALD

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Depositions — Motion for protective order preventing medical provider from deposing litigation adjuster regarding insurer’s deficient demand letter defense is granted where insurer has already responded to four sets of discovery on purely legal issue of deficient letter, no additional discovery is needed on issue, and provider has already deposed insurer’s corporate representative — No merit to argument that provider needs to depose adjuster regarding waiver and estoppel where provider did not plead waiver and estoppel as to demand letter defense

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 107a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2802GUAR

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Documents — Insurer has standing to seek relief from order compelling production of its confidential materials in possession of third party with which it contracts to provide medical bill processing services and technology — Subpoena for discovery of insurer’s manuals and documentation regarding auditing of emergency medical conditions and evaluation of records for purpose of determining emergency medical conditions is unreasonable and oppressive in first-party breach of contract action and amounts to premature discovery in support of unripe and unpled bad-faith claim — No merit to argument that insurer has not established irreparable harm warranting certiorari relief because third party could object to disclosure is without merit where trial court has already ordered third party to produce materials — Petition for writ of certiorari is granted

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 301a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2804GCAS

Insurance — Property — Discovery — Depositions — Plaintiff may take depositions of insurer’s corporate representative and desk adjuster and ask questions seeking relevant non-privileged information and information regarding any documents in claims file that insurer intends to introduce into evidence — Insurer must produce relevant non-privileged documents but is not required to produce entire claims file — Court declines to give advisory opinion on objectionable question and documents; specific objections to questions and documents must be made in accordance with rules of civil procedure

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 234a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2803PENA

Insurance — Discovery — Depositions — Failure to appear — Sanctions

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 342b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2804WILS

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Default — Vacation — Excusable neglect — Motion to vacate default is denied — Insurer offered no explanation for its failure to respond to six items of correspondence regarding suit mailed to it by medical provider after complaint was served and its failure to appear for properly noticed hearing

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 355a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2804ICON

Insurance — Default — Vacation — Answer which was not filed until after 4:00 p.m. not basis for vacating order granting default which was entered earlier that same day — Rule 1.500 allowed court to enter default where defendant failed to serve answer within 20 days and further provides that party may not plead or otherwise defend action after court has entered default — Moreover, defendant did not establish excusable neglect or due diligence

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 279a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2804AMBR

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Limitation of reimbursement to schedule of maximum charges — Following 2012 amendment to PIP statute, insurer was only required to give simple notice of intent to reimburse using statutory fee schedules, rather than clear and unambiguous election required by Virtual Imaging — Trial court did not err in finding that PIP policy providing that insurer would limit reimbursement to 80% of schedule of maximum charges complied with statutory notice requirements — Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction is not impermissible utilization limit — Deductible — Insurer improperly applied deductible after reducing bills by application of statutory fee schedules

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 525a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2806WIGG

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Res judicata does not bar medical provider’s suit filed subsequent to settlement of earlier suit against insurer for treatment of same insured where earlier suit was based on insurer’s contention that certain charges were not reasonable, necessary or related to accident while current suit concerns only whether deductible was misapplied — Where including current claim about deductible in earlier suit would have required that provider anticipate legal precedent established by recent Florida Supreme Court decision regarding proper application of deductible, motion for summary disposition finding that provider is barred from seeking attorney’s fee award in current suit by section 627.736(15), which requires that all PIP claims be brought in same action, is denied

28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 198a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2803CONT

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Deductible — Trial court correctly found that deductible should have been applied to 100% of charges before reduction under statutory fee schedule — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Trial court erred in rejecting opposing expert affidavit filed by insurer on issue of reasonableness of charges and entering summary judgment on issue in medical provider’s favor — Trial court improperly conducted Daubert analysis despite fact that provider did not timely challenge expert’s compliance with section 90.702, and affidavit conformed to requirements for expert testimony