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motorbike-1055084-m.jpgMotor vehicle bodily injury (BI) insurance compensates for economic and non-economic damages caused by the insured at-fault driver and vehicle owner. The amount available under any particular policy is capped by the coverage limits chosen by the insured.

BI coverage is not mandatory in Florida. The insured must pay a premium for the coverage on top of what is required to obtain the mandatory coverage of property damage liability and personal injury protection (PIP). For this reason, many Florida drivers do not maintain BI coverage.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is designed to fill the void where BI is either not available or the BI limit is less than the total damages sustained. Put another way, UM provides coverage for damages which you are legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle who causes an accident which results in your bodily injury. Like BI, UM insurance is not mandatory.

Is UM available to a motorcyclist who sustains personal injuries in a crash caused by an uninsured motorist? Maybe.
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handshake2.jpgIn a decision demonstrating strong support of confidentiality provisions, even at the expense of family dynamics, in Gulliver Schools, Inc. v. Snay, the Third District Court of Appeal punished a father (the Plaintiff) for informing his college-age daughter that a settlement was reached with the Defendant in an emotional case.

When his employment contract was not renewed, the Plaintiff sued the Defendant for age discrimination and retaliation under the Florida Civil Rights Act. Florida Statute Sections 760.01-760.11 and 509.092. Within days of the settlement, which included a confidentiality provision, the Plaintiff’s daughter posted the following message on her Facebook page.

Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT.

As a result, the Defendant refused to pay the Plaintiff a large portion of the money promised under the settlement agreement. Plaintiff’s subsequent Motion to Enforce was granted by the trial court. However, the trial court order was reversed on appeal.
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law books.jpgFlorida Statute 624.155 provides a civil remedy for persons damaged by an insurer’s failure to settle claims in good faith. The remedy can include an award of damages in excess of the insured’s policy limits, attorney’s fees and litigation costs. This threat is the spur that motivates insurance companies to handle claims properly. (Side note: Insurance companies hate that their insureds have this stick at hand to keep them in line. Each legislative session for the past few years, Republican legislators friendly with the insurance industry have sponsored legislation to eliminate or water down the law. Thankfully, each effort has failed. Unfortunately, they will continue trying.)

The law was recently put to the test in Perdido Sun Condominium Association, Inc. v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, 129 So.2d 1210 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).

Citizens is an insurer created by the legislature for the public purpose of providing “affordable property insurance to applicants who are in good faith entitled to procure insurance through the voluntary market but are unable to do so.” § 627.351(6)(a)1., Fla. Stat. As a creature of statute, Citizens’ operations, procedures, duties, and legal status are governed by section 627.351(6), Florida Statutes.

After its insured property was damaged by a hurricane in 2004, Perdido Sun made a claim on its insurance policy with Citizens. Perdido Sun was not satisfied with the amount of Citizens’ eventual payment on the claim and filed a breach of contract action to recover additional sums under the insurance contract. Perdido Sun prevailed on the breach of contract claim.

Based on the result in the breach of contract case, Perdido Sun filed a second lawsuit against Citizens for the civil remedy provided in section 624.155(1)(b)1., Florida Statutes, a statutory “bad faith” claim. Citizens asserted that it was immune from suit under section 627.351(6)(s)1., Florida Statutes, and that a statutory bad-faith action under section 624.155 was not among the specifically listed exceptions to this immunity. § 627.351(6)(s)1., a.-e., Fla. Stat.
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scales of justice.jpgIn McCall v. United States of America, the Florida Supreme Court declared that the statutory cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases was unconstitutional. (In reaching this conclusion, the court determined that the numbers Governor Jeb Bush and his cronies presented to the Florida Legislature to demonstrate a medical malpractice crisis were cooked. In other words, the numbers were phony.)

As important and right as this decision is, a gigantic and dangerous wrong remains alive within the medical malpractice civil justice system.

Florida’s Wrongful Death Act is the civil law blueprint for addressing a wrong resulting in death caused by negligence. Section 768.21 Florida Statutes lays out who may be compensated for the loss of a loved one and by what measure. In all but one type of case where death has resulted from negligence, the children, no matter their ages, of a parent who has died without leaving behind a surviving spouse may recover from the wrongdoer for pain and suffering and the loss of the decedent’s companionship and protection. (See this blog for an easy to understand wrongful death survivors and damages chart.)

The one exception? For death caused by medical malpractice.
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handshake.jpgBodily Injury (BI) insurance sold in Florida covers the insured for damages caused by his or her negligence up to the policy limits. The minimum coverage limit is $10,000, but can be in the millions. Inexplicably, BI insurance is not mandatory in Florida. Only PIP and Property Damage Liability are mandatory.

While the difference between $10,000 and, say, $1,000,000 in BI coverage is significant, the insurance company has a duty to defend the insured equally regardless of the limit. This is another benefit of maintaining bodily injury insurance.
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application.jpgThis link contains an overview of permit and license standards in Florida for drivers between the ages of 15 and 17.

Florida Statute §322.09(1)(a) requires an authorized adult (e.g., parent or guardian) to sign and verify the minor’s application. In turn, §322.09(2) makes the adult jointly and severally liable for any damages caused by the negligence or willful misconduct of the minor under the age of 18 years when driving a motor vehicle, any motor vehicle, upon the roadway.
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scales of justice.jpgOn March 13, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court, by its decision in McCall v. United States of America, exposed the fraud of “Tort Reform” perpetrated on the American public by Karl Rove, George Bush, Jeb Bush and others of that ilk.

Michelle McCall, a U.S. military veteran, died from shock and cardiac arrest as a result of severe blood loss after giving birth. She was removed from life support on February 27, 2006. A medical malpractice lawsuit was brought by her survivors, Ms. McCall’s parents and the newborn child. Following a lengthy trial, the district court concluded that the survivors’ noneconomic damages, or nonfinancial losses, totaled $2 million, including $500,000 for Ms. McCall’s son and $750,000 for each of her parents.

However, the district court limited the Petitioners’ recovery of wrongful death noneconomic damages to $1 million upon application of section 766.118(2), Florida Statutes (2005), Florida’s statutory cap on wrongful death noneconomic damages based on medical malpractice claims.

The Petitioners (the survivors) challenged the arbitrary damage caps of 766.118 by appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Even though the survivors lost the appeal, the Eleventh Circuit asked the Florida Supreme Court to take jurisdiction, pursuant to pursuant to Art. V, § 3(b)(6), Fla. Const., because there was no controlling precedent of the supreme court of Florida. The supreme court accepted the invitation.
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city-zone-945513-m.jpgA pedestrian struck and injured by a motor vehicle may be covered by some, all or none of the following types of motor vehicle insurance:

Personal Injury Protection (PIP). PIP is no-fault insurance, meaning that covered individuals receive the benefit without regard to fault. Put another way, at-fault individuals may recover under this type of insurance. This coverage does not compensate for non-economic damages like pain and suffering, and the limit for what it does cover — medical and lost wages — is typically capped at $10,000 combined. It is also subject to deductibles and does not pay 100% of the medical benefits or lost wages. It is not always easy figuring out whose insurance coverage applies.

  • If the pedestrian owns a vehicle and has PIP coverage on the vehicle, a requirement under Florida law for operational vehicles registered in the state, the pedestrian’s own policy applies. F.S. 627.736(4)(e)1.
  • If the pedestrian does not own a vehicle that must be insured, but resides with a relative who does, the resident relative’s policy provides coverage. F.S. 627.736(4)(e)3. (If there is more than one resident relative with coverage, each carrier must pay its pro-rata share. Regardless of the number of carriers, PIP coverage is limited to $10,000 unless a policy has a higher coverage limit. F.S. 627.736(f)).
  • If neither the pedestrian nor a resident relative has PIP, the at-fault vehicle owner’s and/or operator’s carrier provides coverage. F.S. 627.736(4)(e)4.

CAVEAT: None of these PIP provisions apply if the accident occurs outside of Florida.
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street-fight-379259-m.jpgIn Bellevue v. Frenchy’s South Beach Cafe, Inc., So.3d , 38 FLW D2537 (Fla. 2nd DCA 12-4-2013), the 2nd DCA held that the trial judge was wrong in keeping evidence of the following prior incidents, some of which dated back four-and-a-half years before the subject incident, from the jury’s consideration in a barroom brawl case involving serious injuries:

  1. the night cook being stabbed in front of the restaurant after he got off work;
  2. multiple instances of patrons being kicked out of the bar for harassing employees, being vulgar, being rude, threatening employees, or being so drunk they fell off of a bar stool;
  3. patrons being kicked out for fighting;
  4. patrons drunk and fighting on the deck;
  5. a car being broken into in the parking lot;
  6. a minor in possession of alcohol who was armed with a knife out front;
  7. a near-fight between two patrons and a waiter;
  8. multiple instances of having to stop serving alcohol to patrons because they were “out of control”;
  9. multiple instances of drunk patrons being loud and vulgar or threatening; and
  10. the police having to be called because two patrons were about to fight.

In Florida premises liability cases, the plaintiff bears the initial burden of presenting competent and substantial evidence that the incident was reasonably foreseeable and the defendant failed to take reasonable measures to prevent it. The plaintiff in Bellevue tried to meet this burden by introducing evidence of sixty prior events, including the above listed. The court ruled that only those incidents “involving damage to persons or property” and “starting [on], ending [on], or involving the premises” would be admitted. As a result, only twelve of the sixty incidents were admitted.
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crushed vehicle.jpgMany people, including some personal injury lawyers, believe that UM insurance always provides coverage when the insured is not at fault and there is no other insurance to cover the losses. This is wrong.

When the driver of an uninsured or underinsured (UIM) vehicle causes an accident, UM/UIM should kick in to compensate for losses such as wage loss, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. This is prescribed by Section 627.727(1) Florida Statutes, which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

No motor vehicle liability insurance policy which provides bodily injury liability coverage shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any specifically insured or identified motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state unless uninsured motor vehicle coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death, resulting therefrom. (Italics provided)

Crashes without the wrongdoing of another driver do occur. Our office was recently retained by a woman who struck a tree after swerving her car to avoid hitting a dog that had suddenly entered the roadway. She sustained severe whiplash and a blow to the head which caused her to lose consciousness. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance and admitted for testing and overnight observation. Her car was totaled. The accident was not her fault.
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