2016

41 Fla. L. Weekly D257a
186 So. 3d 1061

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Argument — Insurer entitled to new trial based on cumulative effect of statements by plaintiff’s counsel pointing out that plaintiff had done the right thing all along and that insurer had refused to pay the debt it owed to plaintiff, counsel’s use of PowerPoint slide visible to jury that emphasized the insurer’s responsibility, and an instruction by the trial court which also focused on insurer’s liability rather than on the issue of actual damages attributable to the accident

41 Fla. L. Weekly D1870a
196 So. 3d 1284

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Damages — Trial court abused discretion in denying insurer’s motion for remittitur of damages for lost past earnings and lost future earning capacity where awards were primarily based on insured’s speculative testimony about his potential earnings if he had been able to continue to operate his new business

41 Fla. L. Weekly D2603b
204 So. 3d 561

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Damages — Trial court erred by denying insurer’s motion for directed verdict on issue of future medical expenses for low back surgery where evidence failed to establish that future surgery was reasonably certain to occur — Trial court also erred by denying insurer’s motion for directed verdict on issues of past lost wages and loss of future earning capacity where evidence was insufficient to establish a diminished earning capacity

41 Fla. L. Weekly D2715a
206 So. 3d 62

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Damages — Award of damages for future medical expenses was excessive, and court should have granted motion for remittitur — Because treating physician testified as to insured’s yearly cost of future medical expenses, but there was no testimony regarding insured’s life expectancy, case is remanded for new trial solely on issue of insured’s life expectancy

41 Fla. L. Weekly D2493b
203 So. 3d 995

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Plaintiff who had been driving a crane truck during the course and scope of his employment with the named insured, and who was struck by an uninsured motorist after he had exited the truck and was standing ten to twenty feet away from truck, was not entitled to uninsured motorist coverage under business named insured endorsement of policy because he was not occupying the insured vehicle

41 Fla. L. Weekly D995a
189 So. 3d 335

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Damages — Future medical expenses — Evidence — Expert — Trial court erred in allowing orthopedic surgeon’s physician assistant to give his opinion on insured’s need for future surgery and the costs associated with such surgery

41 Fla. L. Weekly D1338a
198 So. 3d 852

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Coverage — Claim for uninsured motorist benefits by insured who was injured while driving another person’s vehicle with the owner’s permission, allegedly due to the owner’s negligent failure to maintain the brakes on the vehicle — Under unambiguous provisions of policy, the non-owned vehicle defendant was driving was not an uninsured vehicle because the vehicle, when driven by insured, was insured under the liability portion of insured’s policy — Policy did not extend uninsured motorist coverage to insured, and failure to extend coverage did not impermissibly limit uninsured motorist coverage insurer was required to provide under section 627.727, Florida Statutes — Failure of policy to provide uninsured motorist coverage to insured does not run afoul of statute because non-owned vehicle insured was driving was an insured vehicle under insured’s policy while being driven by insured

41 Fla. L. Weekly D726a
188 So. 3d 906

Insurance — Equitable subrogation — Where three insurers settled underlying litigation through a jointly-funded settlement under an agreement that provided that the insurers could litigate among themselves regarding reallocation of the settlement funds, insurer which was determined to be liable to another insurer after trial was not entitled to recover from third insurer the money it had recovered in settlement before trial from insurer which prevailed at trial — Insurer which did not pay the entire settlement in underlying tort litigation was not entitled to equitable subrogation

41 Fla. L. Weekly D1182a
192 So. 3d 562

Torts — Insurance — Subrogation — Default — Subrogation action by insurance company against defendant and his wife to recover amounts paid to company’s insured under uninsured motorist coverage for personal injury and for damage to insured’s vehicle resulting from wife’s negligent operation of vehicle owned by defendant and his wife — It was error to award default judgment against defendant for damages without evidentiary hearing where damages were unliquidated — Claims for personal injury, disability, discomfort, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, loss of wages, loss of earning capacity, and property damage, although pled as an exact amount in subrogation action, were unliquidated — Conflict certified — It was error to enter default against defendant husband without an adjudication of liability as to non-defaulting wife who had filed a pro se answer to complaint on her own behalf

41 Fla. L. Weekly D687a
199 So. 3d 292

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Petition for writ of certiorari, seeking to quash circuit court appellate division’s order compelling discovery as to the reasonableness of fees charged by provider for medical services rendered to insured — Petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where petitioner has failed to meet threshold showing that order creates irreparable harm — Because an insurer is allowed to dispute the reasonableness of charges at any time, including after payment of the claim, the fact that insurer issued payments for PIP benefits does not dispose of the issue of the reasonableness of the charges