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Case Law Alerts

County Court Denies Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint, Alleging Bad Faith Handling, Based on Insurer’s Confession of Judgment and Failure to Cure Civil Remedy Notice Within 60 Days.

Gulf Coast Injury Centers, LLC a/a/o Craig Jorden v. Allstate Ins. Co., County Court, 13th Judicial Circuit Hillsborough County, Case No: 2021-CC-115756

January 1, 2024

The instant suit involved a dispute for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits, extended medical payment benefits, penalty, postage, interest, costs and attorney’s fees. After suit was filed, the court issued a General Differentiated Case Management Order, establishing the deadlines in the suit and setting a projected trial date of May 2023. 

Once suit was filed, defense counsel attempted to confer with plaintiff’s counsel. These attempts were ignored, and approximately eight days after defense counsel’s attempts to confer, the plaintiff filed a Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) with the Florida Department of Financial Services. A response to the CRN was timely filed by Allstate. 

Throughout the life of the case, Allstate made more attempts to confer with the plaintiff, all of which were ignored. Finally, Allstate filed a confession of judgment for $1,549.64, stipulating to the plaintiff’s entitlement to attorney’s fees and costs. Following the confession of judgment, the plaintiff filed a motion for leave to supplement and/or amend the complaint for statutory bad faith pursuant to Section 625.155, Florida Statutes. The proposed amended complaint alleged bad faith claims handling, alleging that Allstate did not attempt to cure the CRN within 60 days, after which it filed a confession. 

In deciding whether to grant the amendment, the court analyzed Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.190 as well as the standards established by case law in which an amendment may be granted if the court finds that: (1) granting the amendment does not prejudice the opposing party; (2) the privilege to amend has not been abused; and (3) the amendment is not futile. 

With regard to prejudice, the court found that the amendment would prejudice the defendant as the suit had been pending for 19 months and every deadline in the Case Management Order had elapsed. The court also noted that the plaintiff was not precluded from filing a separate cause of action for bad faith should it choose to do so. 

In analyzing whether the privilege to amend had been abused, the court found that the plaintiff’s actions demonstrated “the precise abuse that is intended to be prevented.” The court also took issue with the fact that the plaintiff filed its CRN after litigation had commenced, as opposed to before. The court also took issue with the plaintiff’s actions in ignoring all of Allstate’s attempts to amicably settle the suit, thus, forcing the confession of judgment. 

In analyzing futility, the court noted that the proposed amended complaint would be subject to dismissal as it was legally insufficient, thus, making the amendment futile. This was because the plaintiff did not comply with Fla. Stat. 624.155, which requires a CRN to state with specificity the facts giving rise to the violation, along with the specific policy language relevant to the violation and the specific statutory language that has allegedly been violated. In analyzing the CRN, the court found that it did not satisfy the requirements of Section 624.155, thus, barring the plaintiff from being able to bring a bad faith claim against Allstate. Accordingly, the court denied the plaintiff’s motion. 

This order should prove to be a boon for carriers defending against PIP suits in which plaintiffs attempt to use boilerplate Civil Remedy Notices as further leverage to force settlement. As this is a common strategy utilized by certain plaintiff firms in Florida, this order should give carriers a useful tool to defend themselves against these sort of scorched-earth litigation tactics. 

 

Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2024 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2024 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.

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Thought Leadership

The Enforceability of Online Arbitration Agreements Remains Unresolved in Pennsylvania, But the Pennsylvania Superior Court has Provided Substantive Guidance on the Issue

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Feb. 18, 2026) (citation omitted). They are largely regarded as the “if you keep using this, you agree to everything buried in this link” terms embedded into almost every online agreement consumers and users sign before proceeding with purchases of goods and/or services. While consumers are generally aware of them, many almost never click on the link, nor read them in their entirety. This leaves many consumers and users ignorant of the terms and impact of such agreements. However, one’s ignorance of the otherwise neatly-tucked-away terms rarely renders them unenforceable. The issue of the enforceability of browsewrap agreements has been up for debate for some time in many jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania. Indeed, Pennsylvania had a brief grip on this issue for a period in time. Specifically, in 2023, an en banc Superior Court set forth heightened standards for companies to meet in order to secure assent and enforce browsewrap arbitration agreements. See Chilutti v. Uber Techs., Inc., 300 A.3d 430 (Pa.Super. 2023) (en banc) (“Chilutti I”) Chilutti I involved a husband and wife who sued Uber and its subsidiaries after the wife, a wheelchair bound passenger using Uber’s rideshare service, fell, struck her head, and lost consciousness due to her uber driver failing to provide a seatbelt and making an aggressive turn during the trip. The Chilutti’s filed a negligence lawsuit against Uber and its subsidiaries. In response, the defendants moved to compel arbitration, arguing that “the couple’s conduct on the company’s website and application — when they registered for the ridesharing service — signified that they agreed to be bound by the mandatory arbitration provision found in the hyperlinked terms and conditions.” The trial court granted the defendants’ petition and stayed the proceedings pending the results of arbitration, and the Chilutti’s appealed. On appeal, the Superior Court addressed two issues. 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In reaching this decision, the en banc Superior Court held that browsewrap arbitration agreements are enforceable in Pennsylvania only if the registration website and application screens explicitly inform consumers that they are waiving the right to a jury trial, the registration process cannot be completed until the consumer is fully informed of this waiver, and, when the agreement is available via hyperlink, the waiver appears at the top of the first page of the terms in bold, capitalized text. Since the ruling, Pennsylvania courts have applied Chilutti I to determine if browsewrap agreements are enforceable.  For instance, the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas invoked Chilutti I to reject an agreement that lacked an express jury-trial waiver on the assent screen.  See Miller v. Festival Fun Parks, LLC, 92 WDA 2025 (C.P. Alleg. Cnty. Mar. 24, 2025). Similarly, the Superior Court has held that notice which failed to explicitly state the consumer was waiving a jury-trial right did not “me[e]t the strict burden set forth by our en banc Court in Chilutti I.” Pierce v. FloatMe Corp., 348 A.3d 1077, 1088 (Pa. Super. 2025). While the issue of enforceability of browsewrap agreements appeared to have been resolved by Chilutti I, Pennsylvania courts’ grip on this issue has been slackened by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s January 21, 2026, opinion in Chilutti II. See Chilutti v. Uber Techs., Inc., 349 A.3d 826 (Pa. 2026) (“Chilutti II”). Therein, the Supreme Court did not address the merits of the Chiluttis’ substantive claim, but rather the issue of whether the Superior Court had appellate jurisdiction to immediately review the orders staying litigation pending arbitration. The Court ultimately vacated the en banc opinion on jurisdictional grounds, holding that the Superior Court did not have appellate jurisdiction because the trial court’s order from which the Chiluttis appealed did not qualify as a collateral order and, thus, the Superior Court erred in holding to the contrary and lacked jurisdiction to entertain the merits” of the Chiluttis’ substantive claim. As such, Chilutti II has rendered Chilutti I nonbinding, and the issue of enforceability of online arbitration agreements remains unresolved. However, in light of the fact the Supreme Court did not address or comment on the merits of the Chiluttis’ appeal, Chilutti I is still meaningful. Specifically, it provides guidance as to the standards a company should strive to meet to ensure they have obtained users’ assent so that they are able to enforce online arbitration agreements. Additionally, it may serve as persuasive authority in judges’ evaluations of petitions and/or motions to compel browsewrap arbitration agreements until this particular issue is properly put before our appellate courts. Keanna works in our Pittsburgh, PA office. She can be reached at (412) 803-1174 or KASeabrooks@MDWCG.com.

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