2000

25 Fla. L. Weekly D2378b

Insurance — Interest — Late payment of settlement proceeds — Insurer required to pay interest where settlement proceeds were not tendered within time period specified by section 627.4265 — Settlement agreement was not, as insurer contended, conditioned on execution of releases

25 Fla. L. Weekly D2722a

Torts — Fraud — Negligent misrepresentation — Breach of fiduciary duty — Conspiracy — Action by Florida Department of Insurance as receiver for insurance company against bank, alleging that bank had made personal loans to insurance company’s CEO which were secured by corporate assets that CEO was not authorized to pledge, and that bank had concealed information which, had the Department known, it would have intervened sooner and been able to rehabilitate the company — Trial court abused discretion by limiting bank’s ability to introduce evidence or present argument on elements of Department’s reliance and proximate cause — Evidence that Department would not have acted sooner in any event was not offered to prove affirmative defense of regulatory negligence — Error to permit Department to use inconsistent valuation methods in damages model to compare company’s net worth in different years — Error to find that bank was not entitled to set-offs for amounts Department recovered through settlement against other defendants for the same claims as those brought against bank

25 Fla. L. Weekly S186a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Independent medical examination — Absent valid reason for denial, insured is entitled to have attorney or videographer present at physical examination scheduled by PIP insurer

25 Fla. L. Weekly D2553a

Insurance — Property — Insurable interest — Lien holder — Where complaint alleged that insureds’ son purchased recreational vehicle and gave purchase money security interest to plaintiff, that insureds subsequently took responsibility for recreational vehicle and began making payments due to plaintiff, that insureds procured policy covering vehicle from defendant insurer, and that defendant, with full knowledge that son was title holder of recreational vehicle, issued policy in name of insureds with plaintiff named as lien holder in loss payable clause, court erred in entering judgment on pleadings in plaintiff’s action to collect insurance proceeds after recreational vehicle had been destroyed by fire, on ground that plaintiff had no insurable interest in recreational vehicle — If the named lien holder under the loss payable clause has a valid lien and thereby has an insurable interest, it is not necessary that the named policy holder also have an insurable interest

25 Fla. L. Weekly D1068a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Error to grant judgment in favor of insurer in health care provider/assignee’s action for PIP benefits on ground that insured breached policy by unreasonably refusing to submit to independent medical examination where there was no evidence of unreasonable refusal to submit to IME — Evidence established that insured’s counsel requested that insurer cancel IME because insured had finished treatment, and insurer failed to timely notify insured that it would not cancel IME or to clearly inform insured that failure to submit to IME would result in canceled benefits

25 Fla. L. Weekly D866a

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Subrogation — Limitation of actions — Subrogation action against tortfeasor and tortfeasor’s liability insurer by uninsured motorist insurer which had paid its insured settlement amount offered by tortfeasor’s liability insurer in order to preserve subrogation rights — Although statute of limitations did not bar claim for indemnification, uninsured motorist insurer had no cause of action for indemnity against tortfeasor or tortfeasor’s liability insurer because it did not pay pursuant to a duty arising from any relationship with tortfeasor or tortfeasor’s liability insurer — No merit to uninsured motorist insurer’s claim that its right to file subrogation action did not accrue until final resolution of uninsured motorist claim and that, therefore, limitations period did not commence until that event — Limitations period for filing contractual subrogation claim commences when original creditor’s cause of action accrues, and party contractually subrogated must file its subrogation action within four years from date of accident giving rise to subrogor’s injury — Limitations period for filing equitable subrogation action begins at time subrogee makes payment to subrogor — Uninsured motorist insurer’s action, which was filed more than four years after its subrogor’s accident, was properly dismissed insofar as it sought contractual subrogation — Uninsured motorist insurer should be afforded opportunity to amend complaint to state cause of action for equitable subrogation

25 Fla. L. Weekly D968b

Insurance — Homeowners — Personal property loss — Where policy contained provision limiting liability for money, bank notes, coins and medals to $200, trial court properly dismissed suit seeking recovery of over $46,000 for stolen rare, collectible coins on ground that, based upon policy’s special limitation of $200, amount of damages fell below jurisdictional minimum of court — Contrary to insured’s contention, policy made no separate distinction between coins used as currency and rare, collectible coins

25 Fla. L. Weekly D1174a

Insurance — Homeowners — Insurer should be relieved of all liability under insurance policy if insurer has been prejudiced by insured’s failure to comply with notice of lawsuit provision in policy — Summary judgment error where there remains issue of whether insurer was prejudiced by delayed notice of suit

25 Fla. L. Weekly D1999a

Insurance — Homeowners — Coverage — Collapse from termite damage — Failure to notify insurer of termite damage until three years after damage was discovered and long after repairs were completed — Prejudice to insurer

25 Fla. L. Weekly D7a

Contracts — Physician agreement between physician and health insurance company — Action by health insurance company against physician to recover patient records after agreement was terminated and physician refused to turn over records without prior written consent of patients, and counterclaim by physician for reimbursement for certain tests performed on patients — Trial court properly entered summary judgment finding that physician was not required to release records without patient consent and properly granted physician attorney’s fees as prevailing party on claim — Health insurance company’s voluntary payment of claim asserted in physician’s counterclaim amounted to confession of judgment, and physician was properly awarded attorney’s fees as prevailing party on counterclaim