COLONIAL PENN INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
MAGNETIC IMAGING SYSTEMS I, LTD., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1997-06-04
No. 96-774
Before FLETCHER, SHEVIN and SORONDO, JJ.
694 So. 2d 852 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1997) Positive Treatment
Cited by 37 cases

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Synopsis

Colonial Penn Insurance Company appealed the certification of a class action brought by a medical services provider on behalf of insureds and providers who received late PIP benefit payments without statutory interest. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed the class certification, holding that all four Rule 1.220 requirements were satisfied.


Holding

The court affirmed class certification, holding that all four requirements of Rule 1.220 were clearly satisfied: (1) numerosity was met because the large number of class members made joinder impracticable; (2) commonality existed because all class members raised the same legal and factual questions regarding whether statutory interest was due; (3) typicality was established because the representative's claim was identical to class members' claims; and (4) adequacy of representation was demonstrated by the class representative's common interests with class members and qualified counsel.


Headnotes

[1] A class action may be maintained if the plaintiff demonstrates that the facts alleged satisfy the requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of rep…

[2] Numerosity is satisfied when the members of a class are so numerous that separate joinder of each member is impracticable.

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Key Quotes

“The purpose of the class action is to provide litigants who share common questions of law and fact with an economically viable means of addressing their needs in court.”

Establishes the fundamental purpose of class actions and rationale for certification in cases involving small individual claims.

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Facts & Procedural History

Magnetic Imaging Systems I, Ltd., a medical services provider, sought to recover statutory interest under Florida law on personal injury protection (P…

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Opinion of the Court
SHEVIN, Judge.

SHEVIN, Judge.

Colonial Penn Insurance Company appeals a class certification order. We affirm.

Magnetic Imaging Systems I, Ltd. [“Magnetic”], a medical services provider, brought this action seeking statutory interest under section 627.736(4)(c), Florida Statutes (1995),1 on behalf of itself and other providers and insureds who have received personal injury protection [“PIP”] benefit payments from Colonial Penn, the insurer, beyond the thirty-day period provided in section 627.736(4)(b), but with no added statutory interest.

The testimony introduced at the class certification hearing established that Colonial Penn had made a large number of late PIP benefit payments and had failed to include statutory interest in numerous late payments, that the interest on these payments ranged from $20 to $70 per claim, and that the class members lacked the resources to bring separate actions to recover such minor amounts.

The trial court certified the class.

A class action may be maintained if the plaintiff can demonstrate that the facts alleged satisfy the requirements of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.220(a)(1) — (4).

The first requirement is numerosity: “the members of the class are so numerous that separate joinder of each member is impraeti-cable[.]” Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.220(a)(1).

This requirement is clearly met by the class certified here. The class is composed of Colonial Penn insureds and medical providers who have received benefit payments from Colonial Penn beyond the statutory thirty-day period without tender of the statutory interest. Colonial Penn does not dispute numer-osity, and the trial court found that numerosity was satisfied and that separate joinder of such a large number of claimants would be impracticable. Broin v. Philip Morris Companies, Inc., 641 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), review denied, 654 So. 2d 919 (Fla. 1995); Maner Properties, Inc. v. Siksay, 489 So. 2d 842 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986).

The record supports these findings.

Contrary to Colonial Penn’s position, the commonality requirement is also met in this case. Commonality requires that “the claim or defense of the representative party raises questions of law or fact common to the questions of law or fact raised by the claim or defense of each member of the class[.]” Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.220(a)(2). Here, Magnetic raises the same law and fact questions as the class members: whether statutory interest was due on tardy payments.

A class suit is maintainable where the subject of the action presents a question of common or general interest, and where all members of the class have a similar interest in obtaining the relief sought. The common or general interest must be in the object of the action, in the result sought to be accomplished in the proceedings, or in the question involved in the action. There must be a common right of recovery based on the same essential facts.

Imperial Towers Condominium, Inc. v. Brown, 338 So. 2d 1081, 1084 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976) (quoting Port Royal, Inc. v. Conboy, 154 So. 2d 734 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963)), appeal dismissed, 354 So. 2d 978 (Fla.1977).

Compare Cordell v. World Ins. Co., 418 So. 2d 1162, 1164 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982) (“there is no agreement even among the named plaintiffs as to the remedy sought.”), review denied, 429 So. 2d 5 (Fla.1983).

This case presents a question of common or general interest to all class members: statutory interest due on late PIP benefit payments. The class members have a similar interest in the relief sought: statutory interest due on late payments. The claims of class members present a common right of recovery under section 627.736(4)(c) based on Colonial Penn’s conduct that raises common issues to all members: whether the statutory interest was paid when due. The class representative has successfully established that it has a common claim that “arises from the same practice or course of conduct that gave rise to the remaining claims and ... based on the same legal theory.” Powell v. River Ranch Property Owners Ass’n, Inc., 522 So. 2d 69, 70 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 531 So. 2d 1354 (Fla.1988).

As this court held in Broin, application of different statutes of limitations, or entitlement to different amounts of damages is not fatal to a class action. Broin, 641 So. 2d at 891. “Claims which arise out of the same course of conduct by a defendant but in differing factual contexts may be pled as a class action if they present a question of common interest.” McFadden v. Staley, 687 So. 2d 357, 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Despite Colonial Penn’s claims that it may assert different defenses to the different insureds’ claims, the trial will emphasize the defense common to all class members: whether statutory interest was due and payable.

The next requirement is typicality, and it compels an examination of the relationship of the class representative’s claim to the claims of the class members: whether “the claim or defense of the representative party is typical of the claim or defense of each member of the class[.]” Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.220(a)(3). Magnetic alleges its claim is identical to the class members: all have received late PIP benefit payments without statutory interest. Magnetic seeks the same remedy as the class members: statutory interest due on late payments. Contrary to Colonial Penn’s assertion, the record does not demonstrate that the representative’s claims will be antagonistic to the class members’ claims. “The mere presence of factual differences will not defeat typicality.” Broin, 641 So. 2d at 892.

The last requirement is the class representative’s adequacy of representation, whether “the representative party can fairly and adequately protect and represent the interests of each member of the class.” Fla. R.Civ.P. 1.220(a)(4). “The ‘adequacy of representation’ requirement is met if the named representatives have interests in common with the proposed class members and the representatives and their qualified attorneys will properly prosecute the class action.” Broin, 641 So. 2d at 892. As demonstrated herein, the class representative and the members have common interests.

The trial court found that Magnetic and its qualified lawyers would be adequate representatives, and the record clearly supports this finding. “A trial court’s determination as to the qualifications of plaintiffs to adequately represent a class will not be disturbed on appeal absent a showing of a clear abuse of discretion.” McFadden, 687 So. 2d at 359.

This ease, presents the quintessential scenario for class action treatment. “The purpose of the class action is to provide litigants who share common questions of law and fact with an economically viable means of addressing their needs in court.” Johnson v. Plantation Gen. Hosp. Ltd. Partnership, 641 So. 2d 58, 60 (Fla.1994). It is highly improbable that the class members would have the resources to challenge, individually, Colonial Penn’s failure to pay interest under section 637.736(4)(e). Based on the foregoing reasons, and finding that appellant’s remaining points lack merit, we affirm certification.

Affirmed.

. Section 627.736 provides:

(4) Benefits; when due. — ...

(b) Personal injury protection insurance benefits paid pursuant to this section shall be overdue if not paid within 30 days after the insurer is furnished written notice of the fact of a covered loss and of the amount of same.... (c) All overdue payments shall bear simple interest at the rate of 10 percent per year. (emphasis added).


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Cited By (18 total)

  • Sosa v. Safeway Premium Fin. Co., 73 So. 3d 91 (Fla. 2011)
    …on affect all or a substantial number of the class members, and that the subject of the class action presents a question of common or general interest. See Wallant, 891 So. 2d at 1116 (quoting Colonial Penn Ins. Co. v. Magnetic Imaging Sys. I, Ltd., 694 So. 2d 852, 853 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)). Furthermore, the commonality requirement is satisfied if the common or general interest of the class members is in the object of the action, the result sought, or the general question implicated in the action. See Imperial…
  • Wyeth, Inc. v. Gottlieb, 930 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)
    …ive class, or that she adequately represents the class members. The typicality requirement focuses on the relationship of the class representative’s claims to the claims of the class members. Colonial Penn. Ins. Co. v. Magnetic Imaging Sys. I, Ltd., 694 So. 2d 852, 854 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). Ms. Gottlieb alleges that her claim is co-extensive with the class members’ claims as she ingested Prempro for several years, remains asymptomatic, and seeks the same relief as the class members. However, Ms. Gottlieb stopp…
  • State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Kendrick, 822 So. 2d 516 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
    …t, that State Farm should treat all of its insureds the same, is insufficient to establish commonality. No “common right- of recovery based on the same essential facts,” has been demonstrated. Colonial Penn Ins. Co. v. Magnetic Imaging Sys. I, Ltd., 694 So. 2d 852, 853 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). The next element, typicality, examines the relationship of the plaintiffs claims—the class representative—to the class’s claims. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.220(a)(3). The plaintiffs claims are not typical of any purported class clai…

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