On February 14, 2018, in
Mount Vernon Fire Insurance Company v. New Moon Management, No. 3D16-2243, the Florida Third DCA reversed a trial court’s ruling
denying a prevailing defendant insurance company’s claim for attorney’s
fees and costs in a property insurance coverage dispute with its insured.
Over two years after the initiation of the lawsuit and after extensive
discovery, the defendant served the plaintiff property owner with a nominal
proposal for settlement in the amount of $1,000 pursuant to Fla.R.Civ,P.
1.442 and Section 768.79, Florida Statutes. The defendant then filed a
motion for summary judgment a week later. The trial court subsequently
entered final summary judgment for the defendant but denied the defendant’s
motion for fees and costs pursuant to Section 768.79, finding that the
offer was not made in good faith. The Florida Third DCA disagreed, focusing
on whether the defendant had a reasonable basis at the time of the offer
to conclude that its exposure was nominal. The Court concluded that since
the proposal was made after extensive discovery and was followed almost
immediately by a well-founded and successful summary judgment motion,
the trial court abused its discretion in concluding that the defendant
had not acted in good faith
