Mercury Insurance Co. of Florida v. Fonseca

Appellee, Miguel Fonseca, was injured in a car accident allegedly caused by a policyholder of Appellant, Mercury Insurance Company of Florida. Fonseca sued the policyholder, who raised the existence of a settlement as an affirmative defense. In a separate action, Mercury sought a declaratory judgment recognizing the validity of the same settlement. The trial court consolidated the two cases. The single issue on appeal is whether correspondence between Fonseca and Mercury was sufficient to form a settlement. The trial court held that it was not. We disagree and reverse.

After the accident,…