2008

33 Fla. L. Weekly D63b

Insurance — Coverage — Declaratory judgment action to determine whether insurer was providing motor vehicle insurance to tour bus owner on date passenger was injured aboard bus — Trial court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of insurer based on finding that there was no genuine issue of material fact that owner of bus had loaned its bus to third party for transportation of tourists without notice to insurer, with result that there was no coverage applicable to bus or accident, where no opposing “summary judgment evidence” was filed on insurer’s sworn contentions that the undisclosed types of business were material and unacceptable underwriting risks

33 Fla. L. Weekly D246a

Insurance — Automobile — Breach of contract — Insured’s claim that insurer breached contract by refusing to declare her automobile a total loss after repair company declared the vehicle to be a total loss — Error to enter summary judgment for insurer where there was conflicting evidence with regard to whether repair company in fact declared vehicle to be a total loss and whether insurer refused to accept that determination and pay the value of the vehicle at the time of the loss in accordance with terms of policy

33 Fla. L. Weekly D1720b

Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Arbitration — Order granting motion to confirm appraisal award was not a final judgment because the order lacked words of finality — Accordingly, order did not trigger thirty-day cap provided in rule 1.525 for serving motion for attorney’s fees and costs — Error to grant motion to strike motion for attorney’s fees and costs based on finding that motion was untimely served

33 Fla. L. Weekly D63a

Insurance — Automobile — Error to enter summary judgment for insurer in action claiming coverage for theft of automobile on ground that policy was properly cancelled before loss because of alleged failure to remit entire installment of premium payment — There were unresolved factual issues as to whether notice of cancellation was properly mailed, and whether payment tendered by insured was insufficient

33 Fla. L. Weekly D81a

Insurance — Motor vehicle — Passenger liability — Coverage — Declaratory judgment — Insurer who has bona fide coverage dispute with its insured is permitted to litigate coverage issue in a separate declaratory judgment action while the underlying tort action is in progress — Trial court’s abatement of insurer’s declaratory judgment action pending conclusion of underlying tort action constituted departure from essential requirements of law that will cause material injury to insurer that cannot be remedied on plenary appeal — Petition for common law certiorari granted

33 Fla. L. Weekly D2737a
998 So. 2d 636

Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Insureds prevailing in action against insurer — Trial court properly denied award of attorney’s fees under section 627.428, Florida Statutes, for time spent preparing for, and participating in, evidentiary hearing to set amount of attorney’s fees although insureds had agreed to compensate their attorney for litigating the amount of court awarded attorney’s fees

33 Fla. L. Weekly D2081a

Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Validity — Trial court correctly determined that proposal for settlement was invalid and unenforceable for purpose of imposing fees against plaintiffs where proposal specified amounts to be individually paid to each plaintiff, but conditioned the proposal upon both plaintiffs accepting the amounts offered and specified that neither of them could independently accept the amount offered — Conflict certified to extent that sister district court has held that joint offers conditioned on mutual acceptance of all of the joint offerees are valid and enforceable

33 Fla. L. Weekly S59a

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Bonds — Performance and payment — Surety on bond that pays money on behalf of its principal and is subrogated to any rights the principal has against its own insurer under principles of equitable subrogation is not entitled to recover its attorney’s fees under section 627.428, Florida Statutes (2006), for prevailing in a coverage dispute against the principal’s insurer — Only the named or omnibus insured, the insured’s estate, specifically named beneficiaries under the policy, and other third parties who claim policy coverage through an assignment are entitled to an award of fees under section 627.428 — Surety that has no written assignment from the insured and is not a named or omnibus insured or named beneficiary under the policy is not entitled to attorney’s fees under section 627.428

33 Fla. L. Weekly D1188a

Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Award of fees and costs to insured reversed in light of appellate court’s reversal of underlying judgment in favor of insured

33 Fla. L. Weekly D763a

Insurance — Homeowners — Attorney’s fees — Where insureds filed breach of contract action against insurer, alleging that insurer had failed to pay amount necessary to repair home after hurricane damage, insurer filed motion to dismiss or abate action in favor of appraisal, parties participated in appraisal of damage, and insurer paid amount of loss determined by appraisers, insureds were entitled to award of attorney’s fees under section 627.428, Florida Statutes — Insurer’s payment to insureds after appraisal acted as a confession of judgment