Whenever an insured makes a claim, one of the first things every insurance company does is try to figure out ways to deny the claim. Common methods are to assert that the loss is not covered under the policy or that the insured has failed to cooperate with the carrier.…
The Medicare Secondary Payer Act of 1980 (“MSP”) — Link to the MSP Manual — was enacted to limit the financial burden on taxpayers for the medical expenses of Medicare beneficiaries whose medical needs are the primary responsibility of some other source. Until 2010, the MSP’s main focus was on…
Our client was a passenger in a Dodge Dakota truck owned and leased by Enterprise Leasing Company, when it overturned two to three times on the highway at high speed. The driver, who had rented the truck from Enterprise, had fallen asleep at the wheel. Our severely injured client was…
For two weeks in November of 2013, I had the privilege of participating in a uniquely American experience. I participated in a civil jury trial in Orlando, Florida (in the Orange County Courthouse, the same courthouse in which Casey Anthony was on trial for first degree murder in the death…
Medicaid will sometimes pay the medical expenses incurred by a person injured in an accident, albeit at rates substantially below the medical provider’s usual and customary charges. When Medicaid does pay, beneficiaries must reimburse Medicaid from third party payments for medical care. See section 409.910(11)(f), Florida Statutes (2013). The goal…
Florida Statute 440.205 creates a civil remedy for various types of retaliatory misconduct by employers against employees for claiming or attempting to claim workers’ compensation. (Florida’s workers’ compensation statutes are contained in Chapter 440.) 440.205 reads as follows: Coercion of employees.–No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce…
Once upon a time in Florida a person injured by a transitory substance on the floor of a chain store like a Publix, Walmart, or Whole Foods could rely on similar incidents in the chain’s other stores to prove what caused their own accident. The theory was that the similar…
A landowner owes invitees two independent duties: “(1) to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, and (2) to give warning of concealed perils.” Cruz-Haymer v. Festival Food Market, Inc. So.3d , 38 FLW D1581 (Fla. 4th DCA 7-24-2010 and Burton v. MDC PGA Plaza Corp., 78 So. 3d…
Sadly, the first thought that crosses the mind of many insurance adjusters when a claim is made is how it can be denied. At the top of the list of the ways to deny claims is rescinding the insurance contract. Black’s Law Dictionary defines rescission as an act “where a…
Because motor vehicles, like guns, in the wrong hands and used improperly are likely to cause great damage, Florida has developed two legal doctrines aimed at holding vehicle owners liable for the harm resulting from the negligent operation of their vehicles by others. The doctrines are vicarious liability and negligent…