Defendant insured’s motion to dismiss suit for declaratory judgment as premature denied where issue of whether Florida law requires appointment of personal representative to receive underinsured motorist benefits was an issue that warranted resolution.

This matter arose from a motor vehicle accident involving a drunk driver. A passenger in the other vehicle was killed. The wife of the deceased who was driving the vehicle at the time subsequently filed suit against the plaintiff insurer for underinsured motorist coverage. The underlying dispute involved the amount of underinsured liability owed to the deceased’s estate. The plaintiff insurer filed the instant declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that: (1) the plaintiff was permitted to require a particular condition, i.e., the appointment of a personal representative, in the resolution of an underinsured motorist claim; (2) the violations listed in the Civil Remedy Notice filed with the state of Florida by the deceased’s wife as a prospective personal representative of the estate were not “bad faith” violations, or otherwise had been cured; and (3) the plaintiff insurer did not commit bad faith. The defendant sought to have the instant action dismissed as premature, arguing that the final determination of the amount of the plaintiff’s liability to the estate was yet to be determined by the state court. Thus, the bad faith claim had not yet accrued. The court held that it need not decide whether the bad faith claim was ripe, since it had determined that it had subject matter jurisdiction. Therefore, it was free to exercise its discretion to enter declaratory relief as to whether the plaintiff insurer could require the defendant to open up an estate for her deceased husband. Furthermore, the issue of whether Florida law requires the appointment of a personal representative to receive underinsured motorist benefits warrants resolution. Thus, the defendant’s motion to dismiss the suit as premature was denied.

Case Law Alert - 1st Quarter 2013