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Nichols v. State Farm Mutual6/13/2003
Appellant ("Insured") challenges an order of the county court assessing attorney's fees and costs against her in favor of Appellee ("Insurer") after she did not prevail in her claim for damages under the personal injury protection ("PIP") provision of her insurance policy. Fees were awarded under the offer of judgment statute, section 768.79, Florida Statutes (1999). Insured contends that the statute does not apply to "PIP" claims. Alternatively, Insured contends that the proposal for settlement was not valid because it did not comply with the proposal for settlement rule. The county court rejected both contentions but did certify the following issue to this court as a question of great public importance:
Are proposals for settlement served pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes, and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442 in actions to recover personal injury benefits valid and enforceable or applicable to PIP suits?
We exercise our discretionary jurisdiction to answer the question and review the underlying cause. Fla. R. App. P. 9.030(b)(4)(A). We rephrase the certified question, however, as follows:
May an insurer recover attorney's fees under rule 1.442, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, and section 768.79, Florida Statutes, in an action brought by its insured to recover under a personal injury protection policy?
We answer the question in the affirmative. However, because we agree with Insured's alternative argument -- that the proposal here was not valid -- we reverse the judgment of the lower court.
Insured filed a complaint in county court alleging that she suffered injuries in an automobile accident and that Insurer, with whom she had a PIP policy, failed to pay for medical treatment and expenses arising from the injuries she suffered. Insurer defended on the ground that Insured had unreasonably refused to submit to an independent medical exam, a condition precedent to the recovery of PIP benefits.
Insurer served upon Insured a proposal for settlement in the amount of $250.00. Among the conditions contained within the proposal was a requirement that Insured "execute a general release in favor of State Farm, which will be expressly limited to all claims, causes of action, etc., that have accrued through the date of [Insured's] acceptance of this proposal."
The case proceeded to jury trial, and verdict was rendered in favor of Insurer. Because the judgment was of "no liability," pursuant to section 768.79(1), Florida Statutes, the trial court awarded to Insurer its reasonable attorneys fees and costs incurred since the offer was served, in an amount totaling $23,199.00.
Although thoughtful policy arguments have been raised and cogently argued by Insured and The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, who appeared as amicus curiae, we believe these arguments are more appropriately addressed to the Legislature. The disposition of this case turns not on what we think is the preferred policy but on what the Legislature has clearly and unambiguously stated in the offer of judgment statute wherein it provides that it applies to "any civil action for damages filed in the courts of this state." We agree with the holding, and generally agree with the reasoning, of our sister court in U.S. Security Insurance Co. v. Cahuasqui, 760 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000), Rev. Dismissed as Improvidently Granted by 796 So. 2d 532 (Fla. Sep. 26, 2001), which addresses each of the points herein raised by the litigants and amicus curiae.
Turning our attention to the second issue, we conclude that the proposal here was defective in form and content under rule 1.442, Florida Rule of Civil Procedure. Rule 1.442 provid
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