47 Fla. L. Weekly D173a EDITH GARRIDO, Appellant, v. SAFEPOINT INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-151. L.T. Case Nos. 17-16701 CC & 20-150 AP. January 12, 2022. An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Lody Jean, Judge. Counsel: Giasi Law, P.A., and Melissa A. Giasi and Erin M. Berger (Tampa), for Read More »
Articles
Torts — Automobile accident — Vicarious liability — Dangerous instrumentality doctrine — Graves Amendment — Action brought against car dealership which owned loaner vehicle involved in underlying accident between dealership’s customer and plaintiff — Error to find that defendant was immune from liability under the federal Graves Amendment — Plain meaning of the phrase “rents or leases” used in Graves Amendment does not encompass a dealership’s gratuitous provision of a loaner vehicle — Mere fact that dealership built the cost of its complimentary loaner vehicle into purchase price or service charges did not create a rent or lease contract — A transaction involving the provision of a complimentary loaner vehicle is not a rental or lease transaction where no money or other consideration is identified by the parties at the time of the transaction; the purported lessee was not made aware he was entering into a lease; and where there is no indicia of a lease agreement, oral or written
47 Fla. L. Weekly D150b NATASHA ROMERO, Appellant, v. FIELDS MOTORCARS OF FLORIDA, INC., STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., ALLSTATE INSURANCE CO., AND GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellees. 5th District. Case No. 5D20-1819. L.T. Case No. 2017-CA-001647. Opinion filed January 7, 2021. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Patricia Strowbridge, Judge. Counsel: Read More »
Torts — Automobile accident — Vicarious liability — Dangerous instrumentality doctrine — Beneficial ownership — Vicarious liability claim filed against prospective purchaser of vehicle that was being driven by tortfeasor at time of accident — No error in granting summary judgment in favor of prospective purchaser based on conclusion that plaintiff had failed to establish that prospective purchaser possessed a beneficial ownership interest in the vehicle at issue — Although prospective purchaser had procured and paid for insurance on the vehicle and intended to purchase the vehicle, the sale was never completed and no evidence was produced suggesting that prospective purchaser possessed the ability to exercise control over the vehicle at the time of the accident — Additionally, beneficial ownership under dangerous instrumentality doctrine applies only when the owner of the vehicle denies ownership, which was not the case here
47 Fla. L. Weekly D101a RONNIE AARON RONDELL, Appellant, v. DANIEL ROMANO, CUONG VI DIEP, and TAI CHI DIEP, Appellees. 2nd District. Case No. 2D20-2840. January 5, 2022. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Paul L. Huey, Judge. Counsel: Robin P. Keener of Stoler Russell Keener Verona P.A., Tampa, for Appellant. Kenneth E. Read More »
Insurance — Assignment of benefits — Payment — Check for assignee’s invoice made payable to both assignee and insured and mailed to insured’s home address in contravention of instructions listed in AOB agreement which was provided to insurer — No error in granting summary judgment in favor of insurer based on assignee’s acknowledgment that a check for full payment was issued and mailed well before the lawsuit was filed — Although insurer did not abide by instructions in AOB agreement, an insurer cannot breach an agreement to which it has no privity — While an AOB agreement grants the assignee the qualified right to enforce the insurance policy, it does not grant assignee the right to enforce against the insurer terms from an AOB agreement that are extraneous to the insurance policy itself — Section 679.4061 has no applicability to an insurance claim — Additionally, because AOB was not unqualified, insurer was not entirely free to disregard its insured in paying the claim
47 Fla. L. Weekly D127a EXPERT INSPECTIONS, LLC d/b/a ITEST d/b/a MOLDEXPERT.COM a/a/o PAT BECKFORD, Appellant, v. UNITED PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D21-547. January 5, 2022. Appeal from the County Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Louis H. Schiff, Judge; L.T. Case Nos. CONO19-008142 and CACE20-0014553. Counsel: Read More »
Insurance — Bad faith — Whether insurer acted in good faith toward insured in resolving claim was issue of fact for jury given different inferences that could be drawn from facts at hand — Trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of insurer
47 Fla. L. Weekly D107e WENDY FIRTELL and BRIAN FIRTELL, Appellants, v. USAA CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D20-1878. January 5, 2022. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Jeffrey Levenson, Judge; L.T. Case No. 18-017831 CACE (09). Counsel: Robert C. Hubbard and George A. Vaka of Read More »