DOUGLAS RODANTE, APPELLANT,
v.
FIDELITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1998-11-06
No. 98-00255
QUINCE, J., and SCHEB, JOHN M., (Senior) Judge, concur.
725 So. 2d 1151 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1998) Caution
Cited by 3 cases

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

Rodante sued Fidelity National Insurance Company for first-party bad faith in failing to timely pay personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. The trial court dismissed the complaint, finding that Fidelity's payment of its full policy limits prior to the required notice of insurer violation extinguished any bad faith cause of action. The appellate court affirmed, holding that an insurer's full payment before notice is filed defeats the bad faith claim.


Holding

The court held that an insurer's payment of its full policy limits prior to the filing of a section 624.155(2)(a) notice extinguishes any right of action for bad faith. Since Fidelity paid all remaining PIP benefits before Rodante filed his notice of insurer violation, no bad faith cause of action existed.


Headnotes

[1] An insurer's payment of policy limits for personal injury protection coverage prior to the filing of a statutory notice of insurer violation extinguishes any right of act…

[2] A statutory notice of insurer violation for bad faith must be timely and served when a bad faith cause of action exists and has not been cured.

Previewing 2 of 3 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

Key Quotes

“An insurer's payment to its insured of the limits of liability of PIP coverage prior to the filing of a section 624.155(2)(a) notice extinguishes any right of action for bad faith for the insurer's failure to pay PIP claims that the insured might claim.”

This establishes the controlling legal principle: full payment before notice filing defeats bad faith claims.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Rodante held a motor vehicle insurance policy with Fidelity providing $10,000 in PIP coverage. After an automobile accident on June 17, 1995, Fidelity…

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
CAMPBELL, Acting Chief Judge.

CAMPBELL, Acting Chief Judge.

Appellant, Douglas Rodante (Rodante), challenges the trial court order dismissing with prejudice his first-party bad faith complaint against appellee, Fidelity National Insurance Company (Fidelity). We affirm.

Rodante maintained a motor vehicle insurance policy with Fidelity. At issue here and below was Rodante’s $10,000 personal injury protection (PIP) coverage under Fidelity’s policy. On June 17, 1995, Rodante was injured in an automobile accident. He subsequently made a claim under Fidelity’s policy for PIP benefits. On March 14, 1996, and May 29, 1996, Fidelity paid all medical and other bills submitted by Rodante in connection with the accident. After paying those bills, there remained $7,375.84 in available PIP benefits under the policy. On May 9, 1996, Rodante made a claim for the remaining benefits available under the policy in the form of lost wages and earnings. Fidelity took that claim under advisement. On August 6, 1996, Rodante filed an action in the County Court of Hillsborough County for the remaining PIP benefits. On March 5, 1997, Fidelity paid the remaining benefits, thereby exhausting the available limits of the policy. Pursuant to Fidelity’s payment of its policy limits, Rodante on March 20,1997, dismissed his County Court action with prejudice. Thereafter, on July 7, 1997, Rodante filed a Notice of Insurer Violation with the Florida Department of Insurance alleging bad faith on the part of Fidelity under sections 624.155(l)(b)l and 626.9541(1)(I), Florida Statutes (1995), because “Fidelity refused to pay Mr. Rodante’s lost wages and loss of earning capacity. Fifteen months after demand for payment of such losses and after filing a lawsuit to recover same, Fidelity finally agreed to pay this meritorious claim.”

On September 18, 1997, Rodante filed his first-party bad faith action against Fidelity below. Fidelity moved to dismiss Rodante’s complaint for failure to state a cause of action on the basis that Fidelity’s payment of its PIP benefits limits and Rodante’s dismissal with prejudice of his County Court action for PIP benefits extinguished any right to a bad faith action. The trial judge agreed, ruling as follows:

1. that Florida Statute section 624.155(2)(a) requires as a condition precedent to the bringing of a statutory bad faith action that Notice of Insurer Violation be given in the manner prescribed by that section;

2. that Plaintiffs Notice as required [by] Florida Statute section 624.155(2)(a) was untimely in that it was served at a time when any bad faith cause of action did not exist or had been cured;

3. that pursuant to Florida Statute section 624.155(2)(d) no action can lie since Defendant paid its policy limits in full prior to the filing of Plaintiffs untimely Notice;

4. and that, as a result, Plaintiff has not stated and cannot state a cause of action for bad faith against Defendant.

We agree with the trial court. In regard to first-party bad faith claims, we approve the reasoning of Judge Glazebrook in Talat Enterprises, Inc. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 952 F.Supp. 773 (M.D.Fla.1996). An insurer’s payment to its insured of the limits of liability of PIP coverage prior to the filing of a section 624.155(2)(a) notice extinguishes any right of action for bad faith for the insurer’s failure to pay PIP claims that the insured might claim.

Affirmed.

QUINCE, J., and SCHEB, JOHN M., (Senior) Judge, concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Talat Enters., Inc. v. AETNA Cas. & Sur. Co., 753 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 2000)
    …s a matter of law. Talat Enterprises, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 952 F.Supp. 773, 778 (M.D.Fla.1996). The majority of cases that have examined the civil remedy statute support Judge Glazebrook’s analysis. See Rodante v. Fidelity Nat. Ins. Co., 725 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Clauss v. Fortune Insurance Co., 523 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988). Judge Glazebrook’s construction of section 624.155(2)(d), Florida Statutes (1993), also comports with the statutory scheme of section 624.155, Florida Statute…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw