FAMILY HEALTH CARE SOLUTIONS, INC., A/A/O JORGE DURAN v. ALLSTATE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed October 26, 2022.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D21-351

Lower Tribunal No. 15-1914 SP

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Family Heath Care Solutions, Inc., a/a/o Jorge Duran,

Appellant,

vs.

Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Appellee.

An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Milena Abreu, Judge.

Law Office of Chad A. Barr, P.A., and Chad A. Barr (Altamonte Springs), for appellant.

Shutts & Bowen LLP, and Daniel E. Nordby, Jason Gonzalez (Tallahassee), and Garrett A. Tozier (Tampa), for appellee.

Before EMAS, HENDON and GORDO, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Family Health Care Solutions, Inc. (“FHCS”) appeals final summary judgment entered in favor of Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. (“Allstate”) and the denial of FHCS’s motion for leave to amend its reply to Allstate’s answer and affirmative defenses.

This appeal presents the same issue addressed by this court in First Medical & Rehab of Bradenton, LLC v. Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., 343 So. 3d 691 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022). Thus, as we held in First Medical, we “affirm the entry of summary judgment to the extent the trial court found that the polic[y] at issue provide[s] legally sufficient notice of the insurer’s election to use the permissive fee schedules identified in section 627.736(5)(a)2., Florida Statutes (2009).” Id. at 692 (citing Allstate Ins. Co. v. Orthopedic Specialists, 212 So. 3d 973, 979 (Fla. 2017)). We “otherwise reverse, however, because the record is devoid of an affidavit, or any summary judgment evidence, showing that Allstate paid pursuant to the fee schedules.” Id. (citing Gonzalez v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 273 So. 3d 1031, 1036 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)).

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.