MERCY HOSPITAL AND UNDERWRITERS ADJUSTING CO., APPELLANTS,
v.
BONNIE DODSON, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1980-04-14
No. QQ-204
Wentworth, J., Robert P. Smith, Jr., J., Larry G. Smith, J.
382 So. 2d 817 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1980)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The court affirmed a worker's compensation order but reduced the interest rate on past due compensation from 8% to 6% because the rule supporting 8% interest had been repealed before the benefits accrued.


Holding

An employer/carrier is entitled to a 6% interest rate on past due worker's compensation benefits accruing after August 23, 1977, not 8%, because the rule supporting the higher rate was repealed before the benefits became due.


Headnotes

[1] When a rule supporting a higher interest rate on delinquent worker's compensation is repealed before benefits accrue or become due, the statutory interest rate applicable…

Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

An employer/carrier appealed a worker's compensation order entered November 2, 1978, challenging the 8% interest rate awarded on past due compensation…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
WENTWORTH, Judge.

WENTWORTH, Judge.

The employer/carrier appeals a worker’s compensation order entered November 2, 1978, which we affirm except as to the award of interest at 8% on past due compensation awarded for the period after August 23, 1977. Although W.C.R.P. Rule 21, on which appellant relies for a 6% rate, was repealed prior to the date on which the benefits in question accrued or became due, we conclude the facts and argument by the parties will permit no higher rate. § 55.-03(1), Florida Statutes; § 687.01, Florida Statutes; Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Authority v. Caravasios, 377 So. 2d 56 (Fla.lst DCA 1979); Parker v. Brinson Construction Co., 78 So. 2d 873 (Fla.1955).

As to interest, if any, on benefits accruing after July 1,1978, which is the effective date of § 440.20(9), Florida Statutes, appellee here (as in Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Authority v. Caravasios, supra) does not cite and we do not consider that provision. Our disposition of the issue in this case accordingly does not require agreement or disagreement with the ruling in F & A Concrete v. Perry, 379 So. 2d 1015 (Fla.lst DCA 1980), insofar as it implies a substantive character for changes in interest rate provisions on delinquent compensation, so as to apply to such provisions an amendatory act’s limitation of applicability to prior accidents.

The order appealed is hereby modified to provide an interest rate of 6% instead of 8% and is otherwise affirmed.

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., and LARRY G. SMITH, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw