11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 9a
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Assignment — Validity — Patient information form stating insured authorizes release of information necessary to file claim with insurance company and assigns benefits otherwise payable to insured to doctor or group indicated in claim created assignment of benefits and transferred right to pursue cause of action concerning PIP benefits to medical provider — Error to enter summary judgment in favor of insurer
SARASOTA FAMILY MEDICAL WALK-IN & DIAGNOSTIC CENTER, INC., as assignee of Bradley Lawrence, Appellant, v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. Circuit Court, 12th Judicial Circuit (Appellate) in and for Sarasota County. Case No. 2003-CA-0396-NC. L.C. Case No. 2002-SC-5020SC. October 23, 2003. Appeal from the Sarasota County Court, Barbara B. Briggs, County Court Judge. Harry M. Rapkin, Acting County Court Judge. Counsel: Scott A. Hunter, Law Offices of Luhrsen, Walsh & Associates, LLC, Sarasota, for Appellant. Michael C. Clarke, St. Petersburg, for Appellee.
[County court order at 10 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 119a.]
(TITUS, Judge.) This case is before the court on an appeal of the Final Judgment and the Order on Summary Judgment granting Allstate Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment. The court has carefully reviewed the briefs and the record, has heard the arguments of counsel, and is otherwise duly advised in the premises.
Allstate Insurance Company’s (“Allstate”) insured, Bradley Lawrence, sought medical treatment from Sarasota Family Medical Walk-In & Diagnostic Center (“Sarasota Family Medical”). As a condition of providing medical treatment, Sarasota Family Medical requested that Bradley Lawrence sign its Patient Information Form that stated “I hereby authorize release of information necessary to file a claim with my insurance company and assign benefits otherwise payable to me to the doctor or group indicated on the claim.” Bradley Lawrence signed the Patient Information Form, and Sarasota Family Medical provided him with medical treatment. Subsequently, Sarasota Family Medical filed a PIP suit against Allstate seeking to recover benefits as assignee of Bradley Lawrence.
In the PIP suit, Allstate filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing that Sarasota Family Medical did not have standing to sue Allstate to recover PIP benefits as assignee. Allstate argued the above-referenced language contained in the Patient Information Form was an authorization for Allstate to pay Sarasota Family Medical directly rather than an assignment of PIP benefits. Further, Allstate argued that there was no showing that Bradley Lawrence intended to transfer his right to pursue a cause of action under the PIP policy to Sarasota Family Medical. The trial court agreed and found that the language in the Patient Information Form did not “create a valid assignment of benefits vesting standing to pursue the insured’s PIP claim in the Plaintiff.”
On appeal, Sarasota Family Medical argues that the court erred in determining that the assignment in question did not constitute a valid assignment of benefits thereby giving Sarasota Family Medical standing to file the PIP suit. Sarasota Family Medical argues that no specific language is required to create an assignment. Further, it argues that if there was an assignment of the PIP benefit, the assignment of the right to sue arises out of operation of law.
Upon due consideration, this court finds that the language in the Patient Information Form created an assignment of benefits. The effect of such an assignment of benefits is that the right to pursue a cause of action concerning PIP benefits is transferred to Sarasota Family Medical. See Schuster v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., 843 So.2d 909, 912 (Fla. 4th DCA2003); Hartford Insurance Company of the Southeast v. St. Mary’s Hospital, Inc., 771So.2d 1210, 1212 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Accordingly, this court finds that because there was a valid assignment of benefits Sarasota Family Medical had standing to sue; therefore, the lower court erred in entering summary judgment on behalf of Allstate. The Final Judgment and the Order on Summary Judgment are hereby reversed, and the case is remanded to the lower court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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