Insurance — Discovery — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in ordering disclosure of insurer’s claims file and related materials prior to any coverage determination

Insurance
— Discovery — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in
ordering disclosure of insurer’s claims file and related materials prior to any
coverage determination

THE DOCTORS COMPANY, Petitioner, v. JAMES RANDALL THOMAS
a/k/a Randy Thomas, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Mildred Thomas,
deceased, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Lucy Thomas,
deceased, and as assignee of Kenneth W. Backstrand, M.D. and Kenneth W.
Backstrand & Associates, M.D., P.A.; Kenneth W. Backstrand, M.D. and
Kenneth W. Backstrand and Associates, M.D., P.A., Respondents. 2nd District.
Case No. 2D15-3052. Opinion filed February 5, 2016. Petition for Writ of
Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Lee County; James R. Thompson, Senior
Judge. Counsel: Shelley H. Leinicke of Wicker, Smith, O’Hara, McCoy & Ford,
P.A., Ft. Lauderdale, for Petitioner. Roy D. Wasson and Annabel C. Majewski of
Wasson & Associates, Chartered, Miami, for Respondent James Randall Thomas.
No appearance for remaining Respondents.

(CRENSHAW, Judge.) The Doctors Company petitions this court
for a writ of certiorari to review a discovery order that denies its motion for
protective order and compels the production of The Doctors Company’s claims
file and other investigative documents prior to any insurance coverage
determination. Because the trial court’s order directs The Doctors Company to
turn over protected materials before any coverage determination has been made,
we grant the petition and quash the order.

This now consolidated lawsuit originated as a declaratory
judgment action wherein The Doctors Company sought a declaration concerning its
obligations under an insurance policy issued to an insured after the insured
entered into an unauthorized settlement with a tort claimant. James Randall
Thomas, the personal representative of the estate of the original tort
claimant, subsequently filed an action asserting various claims against The
Doctors Company including claims for both statutory and common-law bad faith.
After the actions were consolidated, Thomas sought discovery of information
related to The Doctors Company’s claims materials while the declaratory action
remained pending.

We agree with The Doctors Company that the order compelling
disclosure of its claims file and other related materials prior to any coverage
determination departs from the essential requirements of the law. See e.g.,
Zirkelbach Constr., Inc. v. Rajan, 93 So. 3d 1124, 1127 (Fla. 2d DCA
2012) (“[A]n order compelling production of an insurer’s claim file when the
issue of coverage is unresolved has been held to constitute a departure from
the essential requirements of law for which certiorari relief is
appropriate.”); Balboa Ins. Co. v. Vanscooter, 526 So. 2d 779, 779 (Fla.
2d DCA 1988); Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Camara De Comercio Latino-Americana De
Los Estados Unidos, Inc., 813 So. 2d 250, 251 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002). Such
premature disclosure results in irreparable harm that cannot be remedied on
plenary appeal. See e.g., Old Republic Nat’l. Title Ins. Co. v.
HomeAmerican Credit, Inc., 844 So. 2d 818, 820 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003).
Accordingly, we grant the petition for certiorari and quash the order under
review.

Petition granted; order quashed. (KELLY and KHOUZAM, JJ.,
Concur.)

* *
*