Abuse of discretion to deny motion for fees/costs pursuant to offer of judgment statute, nominal proposal for settlement not made in good faith when insurer had reasonable basis to determine its exposure was nominal at the time it served the proposal.

Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s finding that the insurer’s proposal for settlement was not made in good faith. The court found that the insurer had a reasonable basis to conclude its exposure was nominal. Shortly after serving its proposal, the insurer filed a motion for summary judgment based on the findings of its engineer that the insured’s claim was not covered. The court found that, since the insurer had a reasonable basis to believe that there were no issues of fact as to coverage and that it had no exposure, the nominal proposal for settlement was made in good faith.

_{Case Law Alerts, 2^nd Quarter, April 2018}

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